A couple whose child was stillborn following mistakes by maternity staff have received a £2.8m settlement from Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust. Sarah and Jack Hawkins' daughter Harriet died in the womb in April 2016, after Sarah was in labour for six days at Nottingham City Hospital. The payout is believed to be the largest ever for a stillbirth clinical negligence case.
A Root Cause Analysis Investigation Report in 2018 concluded the death was 'almost certainly preventable'. Errors included a delay in applying foetal monitoring, omission of crucial information on an antenatal advice sheet, failure to follow the Risk Management Policy, incorrect recording of information, and delays in administering proper treatment. Initially, the trust told the couple Harriet had died of an infection, but the parents refused to accept this and launched their own investigation.
Mrs Hawkins said: 'I couldn't grieve when [the trust] chose to say Harriet's death was caused by an infection, rather than their own failures. We had to keep Harriet's body in the mortuary for two years so we could keep her as evidence.' Mr Hawkins added: 'We have had to fight to be heard. We are, at long last, heard.' Both parents had worked for the trust but felt unable to return after the trauma.
The trust apologised and said it had introduced enhanced training on foetal monitoring as part of its Maternity Improvement Programme, with a renewed focus on recruitment and retention. A spokesperson said: 'We would like to reiterate our sincere apologies to Mr and Mrs Hawkins for failures in the care around the delivery of baby Harriet.'
An investigation by Channel 4 News and the Independent earlier this year reported 46 babies had suffered brain damage and 19 were stillborn in Nottingham since 2010. The BBC found at least seven preventable baby deaths between 2015 and 2020. Both maternity services run by NUH have been rated inadequate by the Care Quality Commission, and there have been 34 maternity investigations following adverse incidents since 2018.
Janet Baker, from Switalskis Solicitors which represented the couple, said: '£2.8m is the highest damages award in a stillbirth case, with legal fees for both sides the total cost to the NHS is likely to be over £3.5m. I believe that this is a cost which was unnecessary and could have been avoided if NUH had acknowledged responsibility for Harriet's death straight away and had been open with Sarah and Jack.'
