Troubled NHS trust pleads guilty in baby deaths case

An NHS trust has pleaded guilty to six offences connected to the deaths of three babies in its maternity care.

Adele O'Sullivan, Kahlani Rawson and Quinn Parker died within 14 weeks of each other in 2021 while under the care of the Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) NHS Trust.

The healthcare watchdog, the Care Quality Commission (CQC), charged the trust over failures to provide safe care and treatment to the three babies and their mothers.

On Monday, the trust - which is at the centre of the largest maternity inquiry in the history of the NHS - entered guilty pleas to the charges at Nottingham Magistrates' Court.

The court heard that in all three cases the mothers suffered a placental abruption, a serious condition in which the placenta starts to come away from the wall of the womb.

Adele was born prematurely following an emergency Caesarean in April 2021 after her mother Daniela O'Sullivan noticed bleeding and suffered abdominal pains.

Despite this, no vaginal examination was carried out and the court heard there was a delay in identifying that she was in labour.

Adele died at just 26 minutes old.

An inquest found a series of "missed opportunities" in her mother's treatment, but could not say whether or not they led to the baby's death.

In Kahlani's case, his mother Ellise Rawson had complained of a lack of foetal movement days before she had to undergo an emergency Caesarean.

The trust said in an interview under caution that it accepted the monitoring in her case was poor "from the outset" and that key information about her condition had not been passed on to consultants.

Kahlani was born in a "poor condition" in June 2021 and needed to be resuscitated.

He died at four days old.

A coroner said "failings in care" led to a 20-minute delay in carrying out an emergency Caesarean section.

The court heard Emmie Studencki went to hospital four times before her son Quinn was born in July 2021 after suffering bleeding.

On the final occasion, she called an ambulance after having a major antepartum haemorrhage.

Prosecuting on behalf of the CQC, Ryan Donaghue told the court it was recorded by a paramedic that she lost about 1,200ml of blood but "those records did not find their way to the hospital notes".

Quinn was "pale and floppy" when he was delivered by emergency Caesarean section, the court heard. He died at two days old.

An inquest found a series of errors contributed to his death.

The court heard from the families of all three babies.

In a statement read on her behalf, Mrs O'Sullivan said: "People who were supposed to help me did not help but harmed me physically and mentally forever."

She added: "We will never see Adele's first steps, first school days, Christmases, birthdays – all those special family moments.

"We will forever be thinking about her and our family will never be complete."

Amy Rawson, Kahlani's grandmother, told the court they left the hospital "feeling devastated, broken, numb, our lives torn apart".

She said her daughter was advised her son would not survive while on the maternity ward with other mothers and babies, saying the care was "not what she deserved".

"We will never forget what you've done and most certainly never forgive," she added.

Ms Studencki, Quinn's mother, told the court how she had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and depression since her son's death, and regularly suffered from anxiety and physical pain.

She added her partner Ryan Parker was left "broken" by Quinn's death, and despite the impact on him, had been treated like a "ghost" by the trust ever since.

She said: "Quinn should have outlived us, and yet we witnessed his entire lifetime."

Representing NUH, Bernard Thorogood told the court the trust offered its "profound apologies and regrets" to the families affected, adding the trust had since made "significant changes".

Ahead of the hearing, NUH chief executive Anthony May said: "The mothers and families in these cases have had to endure things that no family should after the care provided by our hospitals failed them, and for that I am truly sorry.

"These families have shown incredible strength during this time, and I can only imagine how painful it must have been for them to share their experiences again."

Sentencing is expected to take place on Wednesday.

It is the second time the CQC has prosecuted the trust over maternity failures.

In 2023, the trust was fined £800,000 after admitting failings in the care of Wynter Andrews, who died aged 23 minutes in 2019.

The maternity review being led by senior midwife Donna Ockenden is ongoing.

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