A new mother has said she will “never have another child again” after a traumatic birth experience at Darlington Memorial Hospital that has left her “in agony and hell”, and still requiring treatment 18 months on.

“Horrendous care” saw the 35-year-old patient sustain a serious tear, the baby’s heart drop to dangerous levels, and the doctors raise a duty of candour discussion.

The woman and her husband have now criticised the decision-making during labour, the suitability of the equipment used, and personal damage caused whilst giving birth to their beloved baby boy.

After the couple filed a complaint, Darlington Memorial Hospital “sincerely apologised” for several areas of their labour and maternity care, but the couple have found this “unsatisfactory” and they believe the hospital needs to take steps “to make sure no one else has to go through this”.

In March 2023, only nine months after the Darlington woman gave birth, an inspection by healthcare ombudsman, the Care Quality Commission, found that maternity services at the hospital trust were “inadequate”.

The CQC report highlighted that understaffing “delayed inductions”, even for babies categorised as “high risk”, and that no improvements had been made after midwives raised concerns about the unit’s safety.

The young mum, who prefers to stay anonymous, was initially scheduled for an inducement on May 31, 2022 - but a combination of roof leaks on the ward and poor staffing levels meant that this was pushed back twice.  

She said: “Because of a condition, I couldn’t go over my due date, so having my induction pushed back so many times was stressful.”

Unfortunately, there was a leak in the roof of one of the delivery rooms and the department was extremely busy. 

Eventually, she was induced, despite concerns about safety with the reduced number of staff on the ward.

After the delayed inducement, the baby’s heart rate “dropped to dangerously low levels”, and there was meconium in the waters, often seen as a sign of distress.

During the 21-hour-long labour, the couple told the Echo that the bed in the theatre did not work, with nurses “crawling around on the floor” to get it working again.  It began to lift when forceps were around the baby’s head, in the middle of a contraction.

After the long labour, the woman said that she was “stitched up incorrectly”, resulting in a serious fourth-degree tear.

A duty of candour was raised in the medical notes, meaning that medical professionals were expected to tell the couple that something had gone wrong, apologise, and offer an appropriate remedy if possible (as detailed by the General Medical Council).

But the new mum and her husband were not informed of this, or the severity of the incident until they requested to see the notes months later. 

The mum said: “It’s just farcical; the first eight weeks of the baby’s life were ruined, I was so unwell I couldn’t even have the cot next to me. I was in agony, I was in hell.

“This can’t be allowed to happen to any other people.”

Three weeks after the birth, the newborn was rushed to A&E with meningitis, which the family believes may have been a result of the traumatic birth, and a failure to give the baby antibiotics.

She said: “The response to our complaint just was not good enough – so many of our questions have been left unanswered, and we’re still waiting for them to respond to our second complaint.”

“My care whilst giving birth was horrendous, and it made what should’ve been a really special time into a horrendous experience.”

She is still unable to sit down due to pain in her coccyx, has to go to regular physiotherapy sessions, and has been left needing therapy for the trauma.

The mum said: “I need cognitive behavioural therapy for the trauma, but I can’t start that until this complaint is closed. I can’t start therapy if I don’t have closure.”

A spokesperson for County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust said: “We are very sorry indeed that this patient is unhappy with aspects of the care she received during the birth of her child at Darlington Memorial Hospital in June 2022. 

“The concerns raised by the patient have been investigated and responded to through our formal complaints procedure and our patient experience and maternity teams continue to be in contact with her.”

Specialist clinical negligence solicitor Chloe Gibson, of national firm Slater and Gordon, commented: “Patient safety is paramount and maternity services are so important, where mother and baby are at risk. 

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“We call on the Trust to make sure that babies are induced within an appropriate timeframe and, where there are exceptional circumstances, patients are transferred to other centres.” 

“Where patients have concerns about healthcare services, it is vital that they speak out and raise these.” 

John Lowther of Healthwatch added: “The North East Independent Complaints Advocacy Service offers free support and assistance to those seeking to raise concerns about NHS healthcare.  They are independent of the NHS and funded by the government.  They can be reached by telephone on 0808 802 3000 and email on ica@carersfederation.co.uk.