Mum shares traumatic birth story on Good Morning Britain
Kajal Da Silva appeared on Good Morning Britain to share her harrowing birth experience and call for maternity care reform, following the government's announcement of the UK's first ever maternity and neonatal commissioner. The move came after a review concluded that there had been repeated failures and that avoidable harm had been caused to women, babies and families, reports the Mirror.
Presenter Kate Garraway described Kajal's story as a "terrible tale," explaining that six years after delivering her son, the mum was "suffering the physical and psychological effects." Co-host Ed Balls noted that Kajal's son had been "pronounced dead at birth before being resuscitated during a traumatic birth episode which left her needing 300 stitches."
'It ruins your whole life'
"I think what people don't realise is that you know, it ruins your whole life for the rest of your life," said Kajal. "You live with lifelong pain, you can't stand for long, you can't sit for long, you can't walk for long, you've got endless medical appointments and you're gas lit by professionals. Families don't, your family don't understand, friends don't understand, you lose friends."
She added: "There's such a huge impact on your life that I think people kind of underestimate and NHS professionals underestimate."
Discussing the delivery, Kajal said: "I knew like the labour wasn't progressing, then I was then told that he'd pooed inside my tummy, he'd then swallowed it, which then is quite serious. His heart rate was then increasing and I kept asking to be checked, like, 'Can I be checked, can I be checked' and they said they'll check me in three hours and then I begged to be checked. It was Covid times too so there wasn't a lot of staff on the ward."
Emergency procedure and long-term effects
"I then pushed to be checked and they checked, I was actually fully dilated," she said. "And by that point his heart rate was so high that they were like, we'll give you 20 minutes to push him out." Ultimately, Kajal underwent an extended episiotomy to assist with her son's delivery.
"When his head came out, he wasn't breathing, and at that point they told me they've got two minutes to save his life," she said. Kajal required a McRoberts procedure, explaining: "He was stuck, and he wasn't coming out, and they tried this procedure, and part of that procedure is someone senior kind of, really puts their whole arm inside me, and then kind of does a manoeuvre on his shoulder... and then twists his arm and toss him out, and they do that to save his life."
Her son was born with Erb's palsy, meaning his left arm was paralysed at birth, and he was referred to a physio. "It's affected my whole life," she continued. "I mean, I think the early days, and I look back now, I was severely depressed."
Call for reform
Kajal is now calling for reform of the maternity neonatal system, insisting it requires "big changes." "There can't be incremental kind of improvements," she added. Good Morning Britain airs on ITV from 6am.
