Mum blames 'human error' for baby's death (From This Is Local London)

A Bexleyheath mum blames 'human error' at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woolwich for her baby's death

11:00am Thursday 21st June 2012 in Where I Live By Kelly Smale

A GRIEVING mother says she will never again set foot inside Queen Elizabeth Hospital after "human error" led to the death of her unborn baby.

Georgina Seamons and her husband James Rogers, of Danson Road, Bexleyheath, lost their son Edward in the 37th week of pregnancy.

On February 9 the first-time mum experienced bleeding and so visited Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woolwich at 4.30am.

She was not seen by a doctor until 10.30am and was not sent for a scan until the following day.

Staff sent the 24-year-old home on February 11 telling her everything was fine as she had stopped bleeding.

Mrs Seamons, who works for a children's charity, said: "They couldn't tell me what had happened.

"From the moment I got into the bed to the moment I left we were asking what's wrong and I was asking to be induced.

"But they kept saying it was best for the baby to stay in me longer."

On February 13 Mrs Seamons went back to the hospital following more bleeding and was given an ultra sound where she was told her baby had died in the womb.

Three months later Mrs Seamons and her GP received a letter from consultant gynaecologist and obstetrician, Nigel Perks, which stated: "Clearly, it is a matter of huge regret that we did not delivery her before the second bleed and this is obviously very difficult for the couple to deal with."

Mrs Seamons told News Shopper: "In the postmortem report they actually say there was nothing wrong with him.

"He was the right size and his organs were fine. It's human error that my son is dead."

She added: "If they had just listened to me he would still be here, but how could I have argued with medical staff?

"It's just a nightmare that me and my partner had to go through.

"We understand unfortunately women do have still births but they haven’t given us consistent answers."

Mrs Seamons has sent a letter of complaint to the hospital as well as copies to Bexleyheath and Crayford MP David Evennett and David Cameron.

She said: "I want to make sure other women don't go through what I went through.

"When you go to hospital make sure you demand answers. Don't leave until you are satisfied and don't let them palm you off like they did to me."

She added: "I used to think they were good and would look after me but after everything that's gone on I was just another number on a piece of paper to them.

"I don’t ever want to step foot in that hospital again."

Hospital response

A SOUTH London Healthcare NHS Trust spokesman said: "We are deeply sorry for the distress caused and are undertaking a thorough investigation into whether there were any actions we could have taken, mindful of the information we had at the time, which could have prevented the still birth of this baby.

"We are due to meet with Mrs Seamons in the next week and we hope this will be beneficial."

The trust points out the number of serious incidents in the maternity service dropped by more than half in the past year to just over 0.2 incidents per 100 deliveries in 2010/2011, which makes its service the third safest among London trusts.