Stillborn baby's parents receive £2.8m from Nottingham hospital trust

A couple whose child died in the womb after mistakes by maternity staff have received a £2.8m settlement.

Sarah Hawkins was in labour for six days before Harriet was stillborn at Nottingham City Hospital in April 2016.

Hospital bosses initially found "no obvious fault", but an external inquiry identified 13 failings in care.

Solicitors representing Mrs Hawkins and husband Jack said it was believed to be the largest payout for a stillbirth clinical negligence case.

Mrs Hawkins was nearly 41 weeks' pregnant when Harriet was delivered, almost nine hours after dying. The couple were first told their child had died of an infection but refused to accept this and launched their own investigation.

A Root Cause Analysis Investigation Report published in 2018 concluded the death was "almost certainly preventable".

The report said errors included a delay in applying appropriate foetal monitoring, the important omission of information on an antenatal advice sheet and a failure to follow the Risk Management Policy for maternity. It also found failures to record or pass on information correctly, failure to follow correct guidelines and delays in administering the correct treatment.

Following the report's publication, the hospital trust apologised and said major changes would be made.

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Source: BBC News, 6 December 2021