Steyning couple ‘broken' by maternity failings in Baroness Amos report
A couple say they have been left "absolutely broken" by the death of their baby son and believe the government should hold a public inquiry into maternity failures.
Former midwife Robyn Davis and her husband Jonathan, from Steyning, West Sussex, lost their son Orlando 14 days after he was born by emergency caesarean section at Worthing Hospital in 2021.
Responding to Baroness Amos' review of maternity care, Robyn Davis said that maternity failings were a "huge problem", but the time frame for the report was "so small", adding: "I hope a recommendation that comes out of it is that a public inquiry is needed."
University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust (UHSx), which runs Worthing Hospital, said that the report made "clear we must do better".
The Amos review looked at 12 NHS hospital trusts across the country, including UHSx.
It found that staff were committed to providing good care despite high workloads and capacity pressures, but families were not always listened to, treated with kindness or given safe and consistent care.
"If you think about women and families not being listened to, how many times have we had to tell our story for anything to happen?" Robyn Davis said.
Jonathan Davis said that the couple had to speak to hundreds of organisations and people to get their voice heard.
"For five years, we've had to continue to talk with a lot of the time not being listened to by regulators, the trust, the care professionals, legal representatives," he said.
"Often people look at the circumstances of that event and go, 'oh, how traumatic'. But actually, for families that are continuing to have to campaign, you have to fight and fight and fight and fight and fight.
"But you're fighting about the worst thing that ever happened to you."
Earlier this year, it was announced that senior midwife Donna Ockenden would lead an independent review into maternity services in Sussex, expected to review more than 1,000 cases.
Baroness Amos has previously acknowledged calls for a statutory public inquiry, but is not supportive of such a move, telling the BBC that they take "a very, very long time".
Dr Andy Heeps, chief executive at UHSx, said: "We know there are families whose care here fell below the standards they had every right to expect. I am deeply sorry for that, and for the harm and distress they have suffered as a result."
He added: "Baroness Amos' report is clear we must do better – in listening to women and families, in how we communicate and how we respond when things are difficult or go wrong. We are committed to doing that.
"To keep improving, we will adopt all forthcoming national taskforce recommendations, continue using our own data and feedback to raise standards, and ensure the voices of the families we serve guide our efforts to provide safer, kinder maternity care."
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