My baby boy died after I started violently shaking in labour but no one cared – I felt like an inconvenience

A MUM claims her baby boy died after she was made to feel like an inconvenience by hospital staff.

Little Jasper Brooks was born at the Darent Valley Hospital in Dartford, Kent, on April 14, 2021, and passed away 23 hours later.

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A coroner found gross failures by midwives and consultants and ruled that neglect contributed to his death, which was “wholly avoidable”.

His parents Phoebe and Jim say they had received good care before the birth of their first son Oscar after a placental abruption – when the placenta starts to come away from the inside wall of the womb.

But everything changed when Phoebe went into labour with Jasper on the same ward years later, the BBC reports.

She had been scheduled to have an elective Caesarean section on April 24, but a check-up found her blood pressure was high.

The C-section was then reorganised for the following morning, when more people were on duty.

But throughout the night, Phoebe started to feel sick, shake violently and feared she was bleeding internally.

Staff also reportedly struggled to find Jasper’s heartbeat, but allegedly dismissed any concerns.

“We felt like an inconvenience,” Phoebe, a personal assistant, said.

“No one wanted to deal with me that night.

“The doctor didn’t want to do my C-section, the midwife that’s meant to be looking after me, she just doesn’t really care.

“I remember saying clearly to her, ‘My whole body is shaking – something’s happening, and no-one’s taking the time to listen to what I’m saying or listen in on my baby’.”

The mum ended up going into labour naturally, and Jasper was born “looking so white” and without a heartbeat.

Phoebe said that the room went into “panic mode” while she desperately questioned why her little boy wasn’t crying.

A resuscitation team was called but the inquest heard how a string of further errors were made.

There was a 15-minute delay in placing a breathing tube in Jasper’s windpipe, and hold-ups in administering adrenaline to try to stimulate his heart, it was said.

There was also no consultant neonatologist (a doctor with expertise in looking after newborns) on site.

‘IT WAS A SHAMBLES’

Medics were about to stop trying to revive the youngster when they suddenly found a heartbeat.

He was taken away for tests, but a doctor then told the family their son was too ill to survive.

They begged for Jasper to be moved to another hospital for specialised care, but were allegedly told there would be no point.

Phoebe and Jim later learned that this broke national guidelines, which state that the decision to end care should be taken by at least two consultants.

Despite being advised he would die within minutes, Jasper survived 23 hours. He died on April 15.

Jim, who runs a construction company, said: “It was a shambles.”

Phoebe added: “We wanted a lifetime with him, which was taken away from us because of how that hospital treated me in labour and how they treated him.”

Richard Baker KC, the couple’s barrister, accused their primary midwife of “failing to act on signs of blood loss, failing to determine if Phoebe was in active labour, and failing to call a senior doctor when necessary”.

A coroner ruled that neglect at the hospital in general contributed to Jasper’s death.

A spokesperson for the Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust said: “Our heartfelt sympathies go out to both Phoebe and James Brooks and their families following the tragic loss of baby Jasper.

“We are very sorry for the devastating impact this has had on the Brooks family.

“We are committed to learning from our mistakes to ensure no family has to go through this again.

“We have already taken significant action to improve our practices and will commit to implementing the additional recommendation from the inquest.”