Failures on NHS maternity wards is making mothers afraid to give birth, claim a couple whose baby died shortly after being born

Pregnant women are afraid to give birth because of repeated NHS maternity failures, claim a couple whose baby died shortly after being born. 

Allison and Ruth Cooper-Hall lost their son Giles in 2021 after he was starved of oxygen for 21 minutes. 

An investigation found inexperienced and ‘distracted’ staff missed warning signs and failed to adequately care for his mother, Ruth. Now the couple are calling for ‘systemic change’ in the health service as hospitals across England continue to be rocked by maternity scandals. 

An inquiry into the Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust has already found that 300 babies had died or been left brain-damaged due to ‘repeated errors in care’. 

Meanwhile, a new investigation at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust will look into 1,700 similar cases. 

Pregnant women are afraid to give birth because of repeated NHS maternity failures, claim a couple whose baby died shortly after being born (File image) 

Allison Cooper-Hall, a secondary school teacher, said repeated errors in maternity care are ‘absolutely’ making more women worried about their pregnancies. 

As her wife prepares to give birth again next month, she told The Times: ‘The ”lessons-learnt” approach clearly isn’t working if the tragedies are repeated in hospital after hospital. 

‘This isn’t an issue about individual maternity services in certain hospitals, it’s a system-wide issue about the safety of the whole maternity system.’

She said she feared that if similar investigations were carried out at all of England’s maternity services, the ‘same findings and patterns leading to avoidable harm will emerge in a significant percentage’. 

Giles Cooper-Hall died from a brain injury caused by lack of oxygen at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth in October 2021. 

‘Ineffective communication during multiple handovers’ was a factor in the death, a Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch report found. The family said they have now received ‘gold-star service’ from Derriford Hospital before the August 8 due date. 

Allison Cooper-Hall, a secondary school teacher, said repeated errors in maternity care are ‘absolutely’ making more women worried about their pregnancies

An investigation found inexperienced and ‘distracted’ staff missed warning signs and failed to adequately care for Giles’ mother, Ruth

But Mrs Cooper-Hall said it should not take a tragedy to improve care, and called for hospitals to ‘listen to us as parents’. 

A spokesman for NHS England said it was ‘taking action to strengthen maternity services, including through the recently published three-year delivery plan for maternity and neonatal services.’