Birmingham Women's and Children's NHS Foundation Trust

4. Miss E complains about parts of her care at the Trust in April 2021 after the still birth (when a baby is born dead after 24 weeks of pregnancy) of her daughter.

5. Miss E says the Trust: • did not make sure her room was a comfortable temperature • did not label blood tests • did not connect her up to a ‘new’ magnesium sulphate machine upon arrival • did not meet basic hygiene needs • did not properly supervise student midwives • did not manage common reactions to spinal anaesthetic • did not communicate well with her, her partner and different NHS Trusts • did not monitor her closely enough.

6. Miss E feels that if the hospital had monitored her closely it would have been able to act quicker when problems started. She feels if this had happened the outcome may have been different and they may not have lost O.

7. The loss affected Miss E mentally and physically. She felt socially distanced and withdrawn. Miss E is constantly reminded about her daughter and has little faith in the NHS system. She relives the experience and has nightmares. In February 2023 she gave birth to a baby boy and the memory of O’s loss made it difficult to manage mentally. After his birth she went into shock.

8. Miss E wants: • a financial payment for the impact on her and her partner • a written apology • more qualified staff and midwives on a shift • staff to spend time with patients and listen to their concerns • to have more qualified staff to give quality care • a change of procedure to how the Trust keeps ‘next of kin’ details and for new patients (electronic records) • to make sure the Trust gives all staff the same information before and after a shift • the Trust to keep up to date with current policies, procedures and training • the Trust to give training on how to deal with patients and families.

9. Another NHS Trust transferred Miss E to the Trust as an emergency in April 2021. She was pregnant and experiencing bleeding. Early examinations found a foetal heartbeat. While at the Trust Miss E went into pre-term labour and her daughter was stillborn.

12. The law says we cannot investigate a complaint where a person has (or had) the option to take legal action, unless we consider this is (or was) unreasonable in the circumstances.

13. Miss E is complaining about the care provided by the Trust before, during and after the stillbirth of her daughter in April 2021. She believes if she had been monitored more closely, the outcome may have been different.

14. Miss E told us she was taking legal action against the Trust and was a couple of months into the action, when the law firm dropped her case. The firm said they could not take it further as they felt the action should be against a different hospital who had failed to check the size of her cervix during her pregnancy.

15. Miss E said the law firm told her she had until April 2024 to take the case to court. Miss E agreed that her best option was to speak to more law firms before she ran out of time.

16. We explained to Miss E the outcomes we can recommend including different amounts of payment. But, it may be in Miss E’s best interests to explore getting legal advice about her complaint first. We know the time limits for legal action are strict, so it is reasonable for her to explore this option first whilst she still has time.

17. We explained our process when someone has a legal route to resolve their concerns. Once Miss E has explored her legal options fully, if she is unable to go ahead with legal action, she can bring her complaint back to us. We told her that she would have to return to us quickly as our time limit would still apply.

18. We are satisfied that a court is best placed to consider this complaint. It is the most customer focused route available to Miss E, given the limited time she now has available to explore a potential claim in court. Legal action gives Miss E a better opportunity to achieve a higher payment that reflects how she has been affected by what happened.

19. Although Miss E is also looking for other outcomes (service improvements and an apology) and these are not usually directly achieved by legal action, it is reasonable to expect her to take legal action given the serious nature of her complaint. Should she wish to pursue outcomes that a court did not consider, we may be able to look at these after any court action is complete.

1. We have carefully considered Miss E’s complaint about the Birmingham Women's and Children's NHS Foundation Trust (the Trust).

2. We are sorry to hear about the death of Miss E’s daughter, O, and for the understandable distress this has caused the family.

3. We think Miss E could take legal action on the matter she has brought to us. We have considered the circumstances of her complaint and have decided to take no further action for this reason. We hope she can achieve the outcome she wants through legal action.