Unborn baby died after medics mistook life-or-death emergency for stomach bug

Katalin Szabo and James Moore lost their son Dexter at 27 weeks, with medics failing to perform continuous heartbeat monitoring or call a senior doctor until it was too late – despite major red flags around Katalin’s ongoing health concerns.

And the couple, who describe the care they received as being akin to “third world”, said the fact the NHS Trust involved paid out £20,000 for the loss of Dexter was a “slap in the face”.

Katalin had sought help from Hinchingbrooke Hospital in Cambridgeshire twice in five weeks when she was again forced to seek medical attention from the maternity unit on December 3, 2020. Ongoing symptoms included high blood pressure, sickness and dehydration, but on this occasion she was also experiencing new symptoms including significant levels of pain.

She was told she had a stomach bug and staff attempted to discharge her at 1.50am after checking her baby’s heartbeat – but Katalin, whilst heavily medicated but still feeling pain, suspected something was not right and refused to leave. No consultant was called to assess her.

Within an hour, Katalin was told Dexter had died after his heartbeat could no longer be found.

Katalin and James have made a complaint against the hospital for the care given by the maternity team on that night, which was led by Dr Adnan Waris, a doctor who later made headlines after being suspended by the GMC for performing locum shifts at a London hospital while on sick leave from Hinchingbrooke.

As well as the fact a consultant was not present until after Dexter’s heartbeat was lost, and continuous heartbeat monitoring was not carried out despite Katalin’s high-risk situation, there were also problems in the record keeping by the maternity team, with symptoms including back pain crucially being omitted from her medical notes.

“We just felt absolutely fobbed off from start to finish and the care given throughout the pregnancy was below acceptable standards. Kat was told on one hospital visit ‘not to be dramatic’ and that ‘you’re pregnant, you can still get poorly’. Basically, that her concerns didn’t matter,” says James, from Huntington.

“Kat was in so much pain and she was sure it was something more than a stomach bug. This was her third visit to the hospital in five weeks, I was refused entry and told to wait in the car or go home due to Covid. After not getting a reply from Katalin for some time, I telephoned the ward from the car park for an update, they told me I could text her and that she’s fine. The next call I received was from Kat telling me our baby was dead.

“High blood pressure is a risk factor for placental abruption, as is significant pain, so we just want to know why was continuous heartbeat monitoring not used? This could have given a window for an emergency Caesarean which could have saved our baby’s life.

“Knowing this could all have been so different, or if we’d just driven to a different hospital, is a hard pill to swallow.”

The couple have also raised concerns with the hospital over errors in documentation, poor communication and the insensitive treatment they say they received – with some of the most heartbreaking errors including the wrong time recorded for Dexter’s delivery, which they argued with James over the accuracy of, and the misspelling of Dexter’s middle name when registering him.

“They don’t care. I have sent a very detailed complaint to them, I involved the CQC too, we’d collected so much evidence mostly without realising, like recording all phone calls to the GP and hospital, but all they are interested in is protecting themselves and not admitting liability for anything,” says James.

“The slap in the face is they valued Dexter’s life at a total of £20,000. We don’t matter to them. It was never about money, I would of course take my living child over any amount of money, but we don’t know how else to get their attention. No outright admission just confirms everything we thought.

“We will never trust that hospital again, and our message to all pregnant women and partners is if you’re not 100 per cent satisfied with the care you’re receiving, ask to speak to the sister in charge, or the matron, or jump in the car and drive to another hospital for a second opinion.

“The NHS is on its knees and although people want to do their best, and there are some exceptional people working in the NHS things are falling apart so you now have to demand the care you need.”

The couple – who have since had another son, born at a different hospital - have been supported in securing a settlement from North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust, which manages Hinchingbrooke Hospital, by clinical negligence specialists at Slater and Gordon.

“Katalin and James are understandably absolutely devastated at the loss of Dexter. Knowing the outcome could have been so different if only they were listened to, and Katalin received the care she needed in the critical time window, is very hard for them to deal with,” says Nathan Bunch, an associate with the law firm, who handled the couple’s claim.

“There were very clearly failings in the care given to Katalin. While the hospital point to the fact that continuous heartbeat monitoring is only recommended as part of national guidance from 28 weeks’ gestation – Dexter was 27 weeks – the red flags were there and should have been spotted and acted upon. Lessons need to be learned urgently from what went wrong in this heartbreaking case.”