A brave mum has shared pictures of the daughter she lost while in labour. Emily Barley said staff at the hospital where she was giving birth "ignored alarm bells" and "faffed around" when they could have saved her.
Emily said that she was convinced baby Beatrice would be alive and well if "proper action" had been taken by staff at Barnsley Hospital's maternity ward. She had gone into labour at 1.40pm on May 20.
She said the pregnancy was "uneventful", but Beatrice died before she was born. Barnsley Hospital has apologised and said "immediate changes" had been made, reports YorkshireLive.
Emily, of Rotherham, claimed midwives and doctors "repeatedly chose to continue monitoring" when the CTG trace - a baby's heartbeat monitor - showed "serious decelerations" in Beatrice's heart rate. She claimed hospital staff "ignored alarm bells that should have meant mum and baby were rushed to caesarean section", including Beatrice's heartbeat, which was first monitored at 4.58pm, becoming difficult to find.
Emily was transferred to the birthing centre at the hospital at 5.25pm but, after two heartbreaking hours, she was eventually told by the consultant obstetrician that Beatrice's heart was no longer beating. Emily claimed she was forced through three further hours of labour after the obstetrician in charge "refused to discuss birthing options and walked out of the room without even offering her sympathies". Beatrice was born showing no signs of life shortly before 9.40pm.
Emily, who is leader of the Rotherham Council Conservative Group, said: "For over two hours the people who were supposed to look after me and my baby faffed around instead of doing something. It feels like all these people just watched my baby die.
"At the time I was in a lot of pain with strong, close together contractions and I didn’t understand what was going on – but now I know that there were so many opportunities to save my daughter. I am devastated. I am in agony.
"I can’t find the words to explain how this feels. Every morning I wake up hoping it was all a nightmare and then I cry when I realise again that it’s real. My baby is really dead and she shouldn’t be.
"I just can’t understand why nothing was done. The hospital has apologised, but nothing they can say will bring my daughter back. Now I’m worried that more babies could be hurt or die at Barnsley."
Emily's mum and birthing partner on the day, Jill Thompson, said: "It was horrific. I was shouting at them to do something. I was asking for a C-section long before Beatrice died and they just ignored me. At one point they were talking about how maybe the cables on the monitoring machine had broken and I was saying 'it's the baby, when will you realise it’s a problem with the baby?'
"Right at the end, just a few minutes before she said Beatrice's heart had stopped beating, the doctor was laughing about all the poo covering the baby's head and making it slimy. Their negligence killed my granddaughter."
A Barnsley Hospital spokesperson said: "We are deeply sorry and offer our sincere condolences for the loss of baby Beatrice. The Trust made some immediate changes prior to meeting with Emily and her mum to discuss the events of Beatrice's birth. We also hope to learn more from the outcome of the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB) investigation, which is ongoing."
Jayne Sivakumar, chief nurse at NHS Barnsley CCG, said: "While we are aware of this case we are unable to comment on individual cases. We sincerely express our deepest sympathy for Emily and her family during this difficult time."
HSIB is expected to release the findings of its investigation later this year.
