A mother has spoken openly about a series of NHS failures which led to the loss of her unborn baby.
Sarah Hawkins was told to stay home for six days while she labored in agony, only to give birth to her stillborn daughter Harriet.
Speaking in the new ITV1 documentary Motherhood: Broken Trust, she told of her pain in 2016 when she and her then-husband Jack suddenly realized she was giving birth at home and rushed to hospital, only to be told the little girl Harriet was already dead.
The former couple are just one of many parents whose babies allegedly died in the care of the Nottingham University Trust and who have now launched a campaign for justice.
Looking back, Sarah said her countless calls for help were ignored.
“It’s been almost eight years since Harriet died and I remember every second, it seems like it was yesterday,” he told the new documentary.
Sarah Hawkins has opened up about a series of alleged NHS failures which led to the loss of her unborn baby (pictured with ex-husband Jack).
Sarah described the events leading up to the death of her baby Harriet, including how staff at Nottingham University Hospital (NUH) told her to stay at home for six days while she worked in “agony” (Sarah was pictured cleaning her baby’s room). baby Harriet after her death in 2016)
Speaking in the new ITV1 documentary Motherhood: Broken Trust, she told of her grief in 2016 when a doctor told her Harriet was dead.
‘I made thirteen contacts with the hospital. “They just didn’t listen to me when I asked for help.”
Although almost a decade ago, Sarah’s memory of the incident is as clear as ever, especially the agonizing labor pains she endured.
She said they continued for six days and throughout the entire process, NUH staff told her to stay home.
On the sixth day, she and Andrew knew their baby was on the way and decided it was time to check into the hospital. But when they arrived they found a tragedy that would ruin their lives forever.
“They called the doctor,” Sarah remembers. And then the doctor scanned and said, “I’m sorry, your baby is dead.”
‘I think he just wanted to die. Yeah, you know, he was asking for help.’
Sarah recounts the horrific experience through conversations with her ex-husband, with whom she shares her second daughter, Lottie, four, and with voice-overs, both for ITV. At that moment her mother is visibly on the verge of tears.
She later explained how difficult it was to let go of her unborn child after imagining their lives together.
Although almost a decade ago, Sarah’s memory of the incident is as clear as ever, especially the agonizing labor pains she endured (Sarah in 2016 was pregnant with Harriet).
Sarah said her countless calls for help to NUH were ignored.
She said: ‘I think I had convinced myself it was a boy… I quite liked Arthur.
“I remember when we saw her I thought, ‘Oh, she definitely looks like a little Harriet.’ Harriet Ella René Hawkins. She was perfect, wasn’t she?”
The tumultuous event would have a drastic effect on their lives, causing the loss of their jobs as senior doctors at the trust, as well as the end of their marriage.
Jack told how, after baby Harriet’s death, minor disagreements became “divorce material.”
“It just exposed how different we are, which is, I suspect, what everyone would be like if their son died,” Jack said.
“You think you’re similar, but wait until you have to deal with this, and then leaving the cap on the toothpaste tube becomes divorce material, because that’s a lot to put people through.
‘And, you know, I hold people responsible for my daughter’s death, my mental health, my marriage. To begin to heal, we need justice.
The program looks at Hawkins’ campaign for justice, which has since been joined by hundreds of families.
Sarah appeared close to tears as she recounted her ordeal.
‘I want to see people in court for the death of my daughter and so many other babies and mothers.’
The program looks at Hawkins’ accountability campaign that has since been joined by hundreds of families.
His campaign helped pressure the NHS to set up an independent review, which has now been expanded to include more than 1,800 families, and an investigation by Nottinghamshire Police has also been announced.
The documentary Maternity: Broken Trust investigates failings in maternity care at the trust, which is currently the subject of the largest review of its kind ever undertaken in the UK.
Between 2012 and 2023, 467 mothers and babies died while in NUH care, a figure that does not include stillbirths.
Among the stories told in the documentary are those of Jack and Sarah Hawkins, who first exposed the lack of adequate maternity care after their daughter Harriet was stillborn in 2016.
Also on the show was Natalie Needham (pictured), who revealed her son Kouper died overnight despite expressing concerns to staff that he had never moved, opened his eyes or eaten.
During the Hawkins’ campaign, they discovered that hundreds of other families in the Nottingham area had suffered similar traumatic experiences while under the trust’s maternity care.
Natalie Needham revealed her son Kouper died overnight despite expressing concerns to staff that he had never moved, opened his eyes or eaten.
She recalled: ‘The only thing the midwives told me was that he was my fifth child and that I should know how to wake a baby, feed him and go and do it. He died at a quarter past two in the morning while we were sleeping.”
Natalie and her husband were later arrested on suspicion of killing Kouper, although they were later released without charge.
A later investigation found that Kouper died of natural causes, which Natalie disputes.
Ladybird’s mother Carly was shocked to the core when confusing test results led to an unnecessary abortion and the loss of her precious fetus.
‘We were told she probably wouldn’t survive the birth. We decided to terminate the pregnancy because we didn’t want our daughter to suffer,’ Carly said.
‘We found that the test results were completely clear. You can’t imagine that feeling. The consultant said you could have had an abortion anyway.”
The NUH was fined £800,000 after being criminally prosecuted over the death of Wynter Andrews, who died in the arms of his mother Sarah (pictured).
NUH NHS Trust has been fined £800,000 after being criminally prosecuted over the death of Wynter Andrews, who died in the arms of his mother Sarah.
Sarah recalled: “After Wynter died, we were in the mourning room when the coroner called us and said, ‘I’ve been looking at your notes from when you came in on Sunday.’ And I said, ‘I didn’t.'” “No. “I came in on Sunday, I came in on Saturday.”
‘At that point the coroner realized that the trust had not submitted all the correct records. Later during the investigation we found out that they had actually checked the box to say that Wynter’s death was an expected death.
‘Wynter was a perfectly healthy baby, there was no reason for him to die. The coroner ruled that he died due to the trust’s negligence.
Maternity: Broken Trust also offers access to the review’s leader, senior midwife Donna Ockenden. Donna expects her review to take at least 18 months.
In a statement to the programme, Anthony May, chief executive of Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH), apologized to the women and their families for their “pain and suffering”.
She said: ‘I know we have failed too many women and their families, and I recognize the pain and suffering they continue to experience as a result. For that, I am very sorry.
‘We have further to go, but the latest report from the Care Quality Commission (CQC), published in September 2023, reflects the progress we are making, with an improved rating for our maternity services.
“The report highlights the improvements we are making in the way we listen to women and families, and highlights key improvements in areas such as classification, staffing levels and training, which are due to hard work and determination of our colleagues.
Motherhood: Broken Trust airs on ITV1 and ITVX at 10.15pm tonight (Sunday 9 June).
