Shropshire Maternity Scandal: Mum Recalls Heartbreak Over Baby Boy's Death

Trigger Warning: This article discusses baby loss

A mum has opened up about the heartbreaking moment she discovered her child had died after she was granted an emergency caesarean.

Earlier on Wednesday, a report investigating Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust revealed poor maternity care led to more than 200 avoidable baby deaths.

The findings from the long awaited inquiry, found there were a total of 295 avoidable baby deaths or brain damage cases, between the years of 2000 and 2019 at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust.

Debbie Greenaway discussed her experience when she discovered John, one of her twin babies, died during childbirth.

Watch the video below:

Debbie said: “When I woke up, all I remember was my husband handing me Daniel, I went, ‘Where’s John?’ and again, another doctor I’d never seen before said, ‘There’s nothing we can do, we need to turn the life support off’... and before I could react to that he walked off and came back carrying John. And in my just come round state, I thought ‘Oh I got that wrong, he’s here, he’s fine’ and when he was handed to me I actually thought he was alive.”

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Debbie said she “didn’t know what drugs” she was given or why and a consultant “cut” baby John’s head to “find his oxygen level, but they never explained what they were doing.” She later discovered the doctors were attempting to take a foetal blood sample from John.

Debbie says a midwife - who was "very very concerned" - struggled to find John's heartbeat for three hours.

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She continued to say a c-section had been “brushed off” because a consultant at the hospital said "we have the lowest caesarean rate in the country, we’re proud of it, there’s no reason for you not to have a natural birth" after Debbie asked about the possibility of having one due to expecting twins.

When asked if there is any comfort from the findings released today, Debbie said: “Definitely, but it’s just so shocking how things like maternity care can be target lead and how ‘this is the amount of caesareans we’re allowed’ and how proud they were to have the lowest caesarean rate in the country is the culture that shouldn’t be happening…”

When Holly read the official apology from the hospital, Debbie responded: “It doesn’t change what’s happened for 20 years.”

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If you have been affected by this article, you can find help, support and advice at the charity Sands, here.