A heartbroken mum who had two funerals for her "perfect" baby girl has spoken out over her 'unending grief' 30 years on. And while nothing can ever erase the pain of losing a child, Marie Kelly has now joined other grieving parents and people across the city in calling for a public inquiry into maternity services at Nottingham University Hospitals Trust.
Had she been listened to by a midwife at the Queen's Medical Centre when her water broke, Mrs Kelly believes her daughter would be alive, happy and have a family of her own'. But instead of this, Mrs Kelly had to go through a traumatic experience giving birth followed by two funerals.
The 52-year-old mourning mum from Keyworth can barely hold her tears back when speaking about Laura, her baby who was alive for only 33 hours. It all happened in 1991, back when Mrs Kelly was 40 weeks pregnant with her soon-to-be-born daughter.
She was due to give birth on November 23, and it was on that night when she felt that her water broke. Speaking of the traumatic experience, she said: "I was in the bed and I felt that my water broke, and I said that to a midwife. It was my first pregnancy, but you just sort of know anyway. But she told me that I just need to get in the shower."
Mrs Kelly claims the midwife "refused to believe that [her] water broke". After telling an auxiliary nurse what happened, she was put on a wheelchair by a midwife and "run through the doors".
"I was so uncomfortable in this wheelchair because I was in heavy labour. I could feel something down below but the midwife was not listening to me", she added.
"So I am just trying to set myself up in the wheelchair the best I would and then my husband (Brian Kelly) met us halfway down the corridor", she recollects. "I was in agony".
Mrs Kelly said she was put on a bed and the staff pressed the panic button as she was "fully dilated". She added: "Laura's head was there and I could hear them saying that we need to get this baby out."
Laura was then born quickly, at 4.02am, in what Mrs Kelly describes as "total panic". However, that is when everyone including her mum could notice that the baby "was not breathing properly", Mrs Kelly said.
The baby was then sent to the neonatal unit, while the mum was met by "midwives who could not apologise enough". She was then told by a doctor that her new-born was sent to the City Hospital, and that she was next.
Mrs Kelly was rushed to the hospital on the morning of November 24 in an ambulance. Upon arrival, Laura's parents were met by a baby specialist at the hospital who told them that their daughter "had been starved of oxygen". She was put on a life-support machine, however, her situation failed to improve - so she was Christened in the hospital on November 24, just before she died.
But the family's tragedy was far from being over. Speaking of the day when her baby girl passed away, Mrs Kelly added: "We were asked if we wanted to donate Laura's organs because she was perfect. There was nothing wrong with her. But we said no, because we thought she went through enough."
Baby Laura was cremated at the Bramcote Crematorium shortly after she died. Ten years later, however, the news emerged that QMC had kept 2,700 adult and baby organs for research purposes.
And Mrs Kelly's 'perfect baby' Laura was one of the children whose organs were retained in the Alder Hey scandal. A second funeral took place, with Laura's organs being buried at Clifton Village on February 4, 2002.
The devastated mum added: "It was a small white casket coffin with Laura's organs in. Even the man who did the funeral was sobbing because it was so sad."
She went on to say: "As a parent, it is tragic to go through one funeral of your child, let alone two. Laura should be 31 in November, and this is why I am appalled that this is still happening.
"You think things would be changed now and be better. And then you read the horror stories about what is happening now.
"It makes you not want to have a baby". Mrs Kelly went on to say that she is one of the women in Nottingham who feel "let down".
Nottinghamshire Live understands no formal complaint was made following the incident, and records from that time are not available. Nottingham University Hospitals Trust formed 15 years after this specific case.
A spokesperson for the trust said: “We’d like to offer our condolences to Mrs Kelly for the loss of her daughter, Laura, in 1991. We’re sorry for what happened in this tragic case.”
More than 100 families who have experienced major issues through NUH maternity services have sent a letter to Health Secretary Sajid Javid calling for an independent review, having expressed concerns over the current Independent Thematic Review. They said they had "no confidence" and thus called upon Mrs Oakenden to herself investigate.
The new chair appointed to lead a review into maternity services at Nottingham’s hospitals has been rejected by dozens of bereaved families, who said they felt “let down” by the decision. The review into the maternity units at the QMC and City Hospital is looking into the care of hundreds of families following a number of baby deaths, injuries and other incidents dating back to 2006.
