Woman loses seventh baby after concerns about delayed caesarean were ‘dismissed’ by doctors

A woman who suffered six miscarriages lost her seventh baby after doctors delayed her caesarean section, a report has found.

Chyril Hutchinson was admitted to hospital in February 2021 with high blood pressure when she was 37 weeks pregnant with her daughter Ceniyah Cienna Carter, and was told by doctors at Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust she would need a caesarean.

But the procedure was delayed as a result of staffing pressures and because Ms Hutchinson’s blood pressure stabilised. She was then told she would have to wait another two weeks for it to be carried out.

Given her previous miscarriages, Ms Hutchinson said she pleaded for her baby to be delivered earlier, but her concerns were “dismissed” and she was sent home. Days later, a scan revealed that her baby had died.

A trust investigation into Ms Hutchinson’s care found that staff had failed to properly monitor the growth of her baby, which could have indicated the need for an earlier delivery.

The internal report, seen by The Independent, also revealed that on the day Ms Hutchinson was told she should have a casaerean, the hospital was six midwives short and the department was busy - a situation the trust said “places additional pressures and possible overload on medical staff”.

However, the report concluded that staffing levels did not affect Ms Hutchinson’s care, and it did not state whether the wider failings had led directly to her child being stillborn.

Read full story

Source: The Independent, 5 June 2022