‘NHS doctors ignored my pleas for help after giving birth. Now I’m living with a colostomy bag’
When Rachel Cooper arrived at hospital to give birth to her son in April 2018, she had no idea she would be leaving days later with a life-changing injury.
But Ms Cooper, now 43, is one of the dozens of mothers and families who say they were harmed by poor maternity care at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, one of the largest trusts in the country.
The now 43-year-old was discharged from the hospital after her vaginal labour with an untreated third-degree tear that was missed by medics.
It eventually became infected and, despite doctors claiming her symptoms were “normal”, Ms Cooper was forced to undergo surgery when her baby was just eight days old. Eight years on, she is still living with the repercussions.
She told The Independent: “The dangerous medical practices and poor treatment by staff characterised every stage of my birth journey and has had a permanent effect on my mental health. I’m not the mother to my baby that I could have been.”
Ms Cooper told her story as the government announced on Tuesday that Donna Ockenden, who chaired the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital maternity inquiry and is currently chairing the Nottingham University Hospitals maternity inquiry, will now also chair the probe into the Leeds trust.
Source: The Independent, 11 March 2026