Newborn falls from mum's arms days after hospital declares 'critical incident'

09 March 2023 , 21:30

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A three-day-old baby fell to the floor from a hospital bed days after staff declared a critical incident, hospital papers have revealed (Image: Getty Images)

A newborn baby fell from its mum's arms in hospital, just days after it declared a "critical incident".

The incident at the Royal Stoke Hospital's maternity ward is one of three currently being investigated by watchdogs.

Papers detailing the December incident did not provide information on whether the newborn was badly injured in the fall, but it did reveal that two other incidents were also being looked into, which involved fatalities.

The infant had been cradled in its mum's arms while she slept, when it fell to the floor three days post-birth, the papers said, despite medics warning her not to do so.

It happened during the same month that a critical incident was recorded at the hospital. A baby died soon after being born, while a third was also being investigated from the previous month, involving a mum who died in the hospital's care.

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Three incidents on Royal Stoke Hospital's maternity ward are being investigated, two of which involved patient deaths (Pete Stonier / Stoke Sentinel)

However, the hospital papers showed no issues with the hospital's care were identified, and bereaved relatives were cared for by a nurse and bereavement midwife.

It comes after the hospital agreed all incidents reported to the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB) would be recorded as 'critical', then 'de-escalated if required'.

There are 11 other serious incidents described in the papers as 'in progress', some of which are still under investigation.

In some cases, the relevant investigation has been completed and the hospital is in the process of taking action to prevent similar issues in the future.

Among those cases was a mum prescribed the wrong dose of an anti-clotting drug after giving birth in June last year.

She suffered an 'acute pulmonary embolism' - a blockage of the lung artery.

Two neonatal death incidents - both in 2022 - are also still 'ongoing', while a stillbirth in February last year and a mum's death in November 2021 are the subject to applications to be de-escalated.

Ann-Marie Riley, University Hospitals of North Midlands (UHMN) NHS Trust chief nurse, said: "UHNM has strict protocols to investigate fully any serious incidents that are recorded in our hospitals.

"We take all incidents in our maternity services and in all our hospital services extremely seriously and work with closely with our staff throughout the investigation period to understand why each incident occurs and how we can improve our practices."

Susie Beever