Yahoo News Young mum feels 'massively failed' by baby son's care at hospital as serious probe launched
A serious incident investigation is underway at a Teesside NHS trust over the care of a young mum and her newborn son.
Olivia Wright, 22, gave birth to her second son on July 13 after a difficult pregnancy. She said he began becoming unwell at just eight days old and developed jaundice. He then rapidly deteriorated and developed a 'blue lump' on his head and back, at which point Olivia and husband Auslien faced police enquiries.
During this time, her eldest son was taken away for a short period of time and given back to Olivia and Auslien as no criminal investigation was launched. Her newborn son was then diagnosed with Hemorrhagic Disease of the Newborn. Olivia has since taken her experiences higher, with South Tees NHS Foundation Trust and the North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) launching investigations into the tot's treatment.
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Olivia explained her entire experience from being pregnant up to his birth, his illness and the subsequent events following this. She said: "I had a difficulty pregnancy and was told at 13 weeks that my pregnancy would not last as I had a really uncommon issue with my placenta, and at 28 weeks midwives stopped checking my placenta which really worried me.
"I started having contractions at 36 weeks pregnant and the hospital (James Cook University Hospital) told me there was nothing they could do to help, so I gave birth on July 13 when I was 37 weeks. My placenta was split and it took about half an hour to be delivered, the hospital said it was dying on itself and they'd never seen anything like that before and it was very rare."
The newborn was given some Vitamin K drops at the hospital before he was discharged, but Olivia claims she was not given any to take home with her. The drops help babies to form blood clots and to stop bleeding. Olivia explained that her son then developed jaundice at eight days old and was treated at James Cook for the condition but Olivia claims that she feels 'massively failed' by the hospital.
A health trust spokesperson has said that a serious incident investigation into the care and treatment provided is being undertaken.
The youngster then developed a blue lump on his head and on his back, with midwives urging Olivia to keep an eye on the lumps, then the baby began going off his feeds and being sick. Olivia was concerned for her son so rang 999, when a rapid response unit from the North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) was dispatched to her Middlesbrough home to treat the tot.
Olivia added: "When they arrived the paramedics weren't expecting him to be so tiny and I don't think they were equipped for a baby, they said the blue marks could have been the start of a birthmark. He then got really poorly during the night and we made the decision to take him straight to hospital as he was beginning to get really lethargic, when we got there he was rushed straight into resus.
"Me and my husband were then carted off into a separate room where we were questioned about the 'bruises' he had, the midwives and paramedics told us we had nothing to worry about. He had a bleed on his brain and we had to go to the RVI for his treatment as it was quite significant."
Olivia said that police began enquiries, a usual procedure carried out when a child is seriously ill or injured and medical professionals raise concerns. But Olivia was left 'distraught' when her eldest son was taken from them for six days.
The infant was then diagnosed with Hemorrhagic Disease of the Newborn, a bleeding problem that occurs during the first few days of life. A deficiency in vitamin K is the main cause of hemorrhagic disease in newborn babies.
A spokesperson on behalf of the South Tees Hospital NHS Trust said: "We are extremely sorry that there were missed opportunities to provide the standard of care and treatment that we always expect to deliver. The trust is undertaking a serious incident investigation into the care and treatment provided to the newborn and his mum.
"As part of this investigation, the trust has deployed two trained family liaison officers to support and involve the baby's parents in the process, to ensure their questions and concerns are fully addressed in the final investigation report. The baby's parents have been provided with a draft of the report to enable them to suggest amendments and additions before it is finalised with them, and they are satisfied that it fully answers their questions and concerns.
“We have already changed practice to ensure that newborn babies who need vitamin K, receive this as a one-off injection rather than an oral solution that needs to continue to be given after babies leave hospital.”
A spokesperson from North East Ambulance Service said: "Our thoughts are with the baby and his family at this difficult time. We can confirm we are aware of this case and we are currently reviewing the case via our investigation processes.
“We take all feedback seriously and encourage patients with concerns about the care they have received from our service to contact us so we can investigate their concerns and feed back to them directly."
The mum's eldest son was returned back to the family and police explained that no charges were put on them and there was never a criminal investigation. She added: "We missed his first hair cut, his first steps and it caused a lot of trauma for us, especially with our newborn son being in a critical condition at the same time."
Cleveland Police Detective Chief Inspector Deb Fenny said: “When a child is seriously ill or injured and medical professionals raise concerns, police and partners such as social services and health agencies have a duty of care to that child and family, and as such we would make initial enquiries; not to assume there has been any wrongdoing but to establish how that child has come to be in those circumstances.
“If medical professionals through their medical investigation/intervention conclude that a child is ill because of a medical condition or an accident, thus confirming no criminal element, then police would not need to be involved any further. In this particular case there was never a criminal investigation.”
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