‘Alicia’s legacy can help save other families from the devastation of stillbirth’

Alicia Baker passed away less than 24 hours before she was born in August 2017, with her mother Katherine suffering from polyhydramnios during her pregnancy – a condition which can make stillbirth up to ten times more likely.

Despite the presence of polyhydramnios, which is caused by excessive amniotic fluid in the uterus, Katherine was not warned of the increased risk of stillbirth. Other than standard induction plans for all pregnancies, no plan was put in place to protect Alicia from this risk.

Alicia was born at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow at 40 weeks and four days, with paediatric pathology reports confirming she died less than a day before being born. Had Katherine been offered an induction at 39 weeks, her daughter would, according to experts, most likely have survived.

The Baker family secured a settlement from NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde with support from law firm Slater and Gordon.

Now, as a legacy for Alicia – who would have been seven on August 28 - and to help raise awareness of polyhydramnios and its potentially devastating consequences, Katherine and her husband Graham are donating their compensation to fund a PhD at the Tommy’s Stillbirth Research Centre, based at the University of Manchester, to increase the research base into the condition.

“Losing Alicia changed everything for us and you close the door on the life you once had,” says Katherine, also mum to eldest daughter Sarah and Lucy, who was born after Alicia.

“Other than our treasured life with Sarah, life became nothing more than survival. We had no idea what sadness or pain was until we lost our little girl.

“There came a point where we knew outside of our life with Sarah, we had to decide whether to give up or keep going. We chose to keep going, and now, seven years later, we have become used to the ‘new normal’ that we are a family of five, but only four of us are here.

“Slowly you learn to keep going and pick up the pieces, but it was so important to us to do whatever we could to make sure this didn’t happen to another family, and create legacy for Alicia.

“Getting compensation was never about the money, and we wanted to use it in the most meaningful way we could. Being able to fund this PhD means everything to us.”

The idea for the PhD came after Katherine and Graham, from Glasgow, discovered the lack of awareness and research that existed around polyhydramnios – a condition Katherine also had in her first pregnancy, which also went past 40 weeks, but thankfully saw Sarah born healthy.

Having met Professor Alexander Heazell, clinical director of the Tommy’s Stillbirth Research Centre, the family realised that increasing the research base is at the root of being able to bring about change – and are now able to do that in Alicia’s name.

“We want the guidelines to be changed, so that every parent is given all the information surrounding the life of their baby, and whether they need to consider an early induction,” says Katherine.

“We now know we were ten times more at risk of stillbirth, but this knowledge was not shared with us and would not be still to this day. To know Alicia would probably have lived had decisions around our care been different is beyond words and to this day it makes us want to scream. It terrifies us to know this condition was also present with our oldest daughter, and we weren’t aware of the risks of losing her either.

“Research into polyhydramnios is very much needed, and that will be crucial in making changes in practice. The PhD will help to really increase the research base, and that is hopefully a powerful thing.”

Katherine adds: “This will allow our little girl to fight for other mummies and daddies out there who might just get to save their child. We believe Alicia would have wanted that. We can also explain to her sisters that we did not just accept what happened, but we have fought to give Alicia a place in the world that she did not get the chance to make herself.

“We are so grateful to Prof Heazell for his help and support in making this possible.”

Prof Heazell says: "We hope that research to help us understand why some babies with polyhydramnios are at high risk of stillbirth will help us to better counsel parents about birth and to identify babies at greatest risk of complications."

Sarah McWhirter, principal lawyer and clinical negligence specialist, and her team secured the settlement for the Baker family.

“The loss of Alicia has been absolutely devastating for Katherine, Graham and their family, and particularly to know that had they been given appropriate warnings about the risks of polyhydramnios, the outcome would most probably have been very different,” says Sarah.

“The fact they are using their own heartbreak to help ensure a different outcome for other families is poignant. By funding a PhD, this will help to create a new evidence base to ensure expectant mothers in future are given the information and support they need.

“Through this extremely benevolent act, Alicia’s memory lives on in the most positive way possible – helping to save lives and improving education for both medics and parents about a little-known condition which can have the most devastating consequences.”