Midwives 'dismissed' mum's concerns before baby's death

A woman whose baby died within minutes of being born said she felt her concerns during labour were "dismissed" by midwives, an inquest has heard.

Wynter Andrews was delivered by Caesarean section on 15 September 2019 at Nottingham's Queen's Medical Centre.

A pathologist said Wynter lacked oxygen after an infection and the umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck.

Sarah Andrews felt she was "not believed" when she had told midwives seven days earlier of her severe pain.

The inquest at Nottingham Coroner's Court heard Sarah Andrews, from Mansfield, Nottinghamshire was nearly 40 weeks pregnant when she started experiencing painful contractions.

A statement from her read by assistant coroner Laurinda Bower said the midwives had told her it was latent labour - the early stages - and "perfectly normal".

"I was struggling with the pain and finding it difficult to sleep, stand or sit. I was getting quite distressed because of how long this had been going on," Mrs Andrews' statement continued.

Two days later, on 10 September, she went to the QMC's labour ward but was not examined and was instead sent home with aromatherapy oils and told to have a bath.

On 14 September, as the pain continued, Mrs Andrews was admitted to hospital again. She said on this occasion she was placed in a 'sanctuary suite' and felt forgotten about.

Hours later midwives noticed the baby's heartbeat was becoming harder to detect during the contractions and Mrs Andrews was taken into theatre for a Caesarean section, the inquest heard.

Mrs Andrews described the birth as "traumatic".

"I want to know why they did not listen to my concerns. I feel I wasn't believed," she added.

"If she (Wynter) was delivered sooner she would have survived.

"I would like to see changes. I want some good to come out of my daughter's death so other parents don't have to go through what we have been through."

Dr Luis Peres, who carried out the post mortem, said there was an entanglement of the umbilical cord around Wynter's neck and evidence of chorioamnionitis - an infection of the placenta.

He said Wynter also suffered haemorrhages to the lungs and brain.

Pathologist Dr Andreas Marnerides, said the infection could take days to develop and was likely to have caused Wynter's death.

The inquest continues.

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