#birth-trauma

#birth-trauma

Health Secretary Wes Streeting announced that Donna Ockenden would lead an independent investigation into maternity care at University Hospitals Sussex NHS Trust, emphasizing the need for transparency and family involvement.

Firefighter Jeffrey Jovin, a former paramedic with experience assisting in childbirth, realized the newborn wasn't breathing and had no pulse. Jovin immediately began CPR as another member assisted with ventilation until EMS arrived.

For over a month, my office has been going back and forth with ICE officials about Andrea's condition. We have been ignored, put off, and frankly, lied to about the treatment she has received while in detention.

The heel prick test will now be accompanied by testing for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a rare muscle-wasting condition that can potentially lead to a child's death by the age of two.

In birth injury cases, the collection of evidence is crucial for establishing liability and demonstrating the extent of harm suffered by the child and family. Without sufficient evidence, it becomes challenging to prove that the injury was preventable and that the healthcare providers failed in their duty of care.

There is a piece of advice given to doctors in moments like this: Check your own pulse. Each person in the room has a role, and we perform it best with steady hands and measured voices.

Sofii Lewis described her experience, stating, "I knew I wasn't safe. But I didn't think I was out of control." This highlights the confusion many face with postpartum psychosis.

While noting women 'were treated with kindness and compassion', a 'requires improvement' rating was given. Inspectors said hospital management 'did not always support staff well-being' and 'were not always visible within the service and were sometimes perceived as unsupportive'. Staff reported they were confident to report incidents, however, were not always assured action would be taken.

I did it. I did everything. I put the paper towel in the baby's mouth because she was crying.

Words such as 'relationship,' 'affair,' 'involvement,' or 'seeing each other' imply mutuality and consent. In the context of child sexual abuse, these implications are false. A child cannot legally or developmentally consent to sexual activity with an adult. Describing abuse using relational language risks distorting the inherent power imbalance and shifting perceived responsibility away from the adult perpetrator.

Peter Dervin had spent all day by his son's side in Broomfield Hospital before he decided to get dinner. He pleaded with staff at the Essex facility not to leave his eldest child, Greg, alone in his absence. "They almost laughed at me and said, 'This is what we do. We're nurses and we look after patients'," Dervin recalls. Greg had been given lorazepam, an anxiety drug flagged by clinicians as leaving him prone to becoming unsteady and agitated.

I attended A&E multiple times complaining of pain, tachycardia (increased heart rate), sickness - I couldn't keep anything down... but they didn't listen. Angel-Kay Mason fell pregnant with her daughter in June 2022 aged 19. Due to a family history of complex pregnancies, she says she was deemed to be high-risk but says she was not referred to a consultant and did not receive any extra scans.

When she was 16, Bethan James told her YouTube channel that by 2026 she hoped to have a partner, an enjoyable job and maybe even children. Bethan would have been 27 now - but her dreams were taken when she died aged 21 from a combination of sepsis, pneumonia and Crohn's disease. Bethan's sepsis wasn't spotted early enough and life-saving care was delayed.

"Prolonged Incarceration of Children Due to Mental Health Care Shortages,"

Fear of detention or deportation is leading many immigrants to avoid medical appointments, even when those visits are essential. This chilling effect is particularly acute among pregnant individuals, who may delay or forgo prenatal check‑ups out of concern that seeking care could expose them to immigration enforcement. The result is a growing public health crisis: expectant patients are left without consistent medical oversight, and communities face widening disparities in maternal and infant health outcomes.