Mother who lost baby in labor says hospital staff ‘ignored alarm bells’

WARNING CONTENT UPRISING Emily Barley, from Rotherham, South Yorkshire, claims staff at Barnsley Hospital’s maternity ward were ‘playing around’ instead of trying to save baby Beatrice – and now an investigation has been launched

A mother who lost her daughter in childbirth claims the hospital “ignored alarm bells”.

Emily Barley, from Rotherham, South Yorkshire, said staff at Barnsley Hospital’s maternity ward were “playing around” rather than doing anything to save baby Beatrice.

She is convinced that if “right action” were taken, her little girl would still be alive, she reports YorkshireLive.

Emily went into labor around 1.40pm on May 20 after an “uncomplicated” pregnancy.

But Beatrice heartbreakingly died before she was born.

Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust has apologized to Emily and says it has made some “immediate changes”.

Emily claims midwives and doctors “repeatedly chose to continue monitoring” when the CTG trace – a baby’s heartbeat monitor – showed “serious slowdowns” in Beatrice’s heart rate.

She claims staff “ignored alarm bells that meant the mother and baby were being cesarean”.

Emily added that Beatrice’s heartbeat, which was first monitored at 4.58pm, was becoming increasingly difficult to find.

The working mother was taken to the hospital’s birthing center at 5:25 p.m.

But after two heartbreaking hours, she was finally told by the attending obstetrician that Beatrice’s heart had stopped.

Emily claims she was forced into three more hours of labor after the attending obstetrician “refused to discuss birth options and left the room without offering her sympathy.”

Beatrice was born shortly before 9:40 p.m. with no signs of life.

Emily, the leader of Rotherham Council’s conservative group, said: “For over two hours the people who were supposed to be looking after me and my baby fumbled instead of doing anything.

“It feels like all these people just watched my baby die.

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“At the time I was in great pain with strong, tight contractions and I didn’t understand what was going on – but now I know there were so many ways to save my daughter.

“I am devastated. I’m 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 realize it’s real again.

“My baby really is dead and she shouldn’t be. I just can’t understand why nothing was done.

“The hospital has apologized but nothing they can say will bring my daughter back. Now I’m concerned that more babies could be injured or die at Barnsley.”

Emily’s mother and birth partner that day, Jill Thompson, described the situation as “terrible.”

She said she “yelled at them to do something” and asked for a c-section well before Beatrice’s death, but was ignored.

“At one point they were talking about maybe the wires to the surveillance machine were broken and I was like, ‘It’s the baby, when are you going to realize it’s a problem with the baby?'” Jill added.

She said in the minutes before Beatrice’s heart stopped, the doctor “laughed at all the poo covering the baby’s head.”

“Your negligence killed my granddaughter,” she added.

A spokesman for Barnsley Hospital said: “We are deeply sorry and offer our sincere condolences for the loss of baby Beatrice.

“The Trust made some immediate changes before meeting with Emily and her mother to discuss the events of Beatrice’s birth.

“We also hope to learn more from the findings of the ongoing Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB) investigation.”

Jayne Sivakumar, Chief Nurse at NHS Barnsley CCG, said: “While we are aware of this case, we cannot comment on individual cases.

“We extend our sincere condolences to Emily and her family at this difficult time.”

HSIB is expected to publish the results of its investigation later this year.