Mother whose baby was stillborn after she was sent home from hospital bleeding is awarded £130,000 in damages

A mother whose stillborn baby was sent home from hospital due to bleeding has been awarded £130,000 compensation following a medical negligence lawsuit.

Alex Barr was 42 weeks pregnant and was scheduled for surgery on the evening of April 20, 2020, but went to the hospital that morning complaining of high heart rate and bleeding.

Midwives ignored her concerns and sent her home, but she began bleeding and although she was taken to hospital by ambulance, her daughter Marnie was stillborn.

Alex and her husband, Steve, believe that if Marnie had remained in hospital, Marnie’s heart abnormalities would likely have been detected and, on the balance of probabilities, she would have survived.

Now, after a long legal battle, Dorset University Hospitals have paid them £130,000 in compensation, but there has been no admission of fault by the trust.

The couple, from Christchurch, say they are still fighting for justice and change so other families don’t have to face their pain.

Alex, a specialist renal nurse, said: ‘It has never been about money for us as no amount of money can replace our daughter or repair our shattered lives.

‘We wanted and still want accountability.

‘We wanted to know that the trust had recognized its own failings and was taking concrete steps to ensure no other family suffered as we did.’

Alex’s pregnancy had already been worrying; She had suffered from hyperemesis gravidarum, a condition of extreme morning sickness, from the beginning.

She also had to have extra scans in the third trimester when Marnie’s growth slowed.

As her due date approached, she asked about induction but was told there was no reason why she could not have a vaginal birth.

But she was eventually booked in for an induction 12 days after her due date.

On the morning of the induction he started leaking fluid and went to Poole Hospital.

But after 20 minutes of monitoring, the midwife allowed Alex to go home and await his 9pm induction, despite him showing them bright red blood.

The midwife sometimes dismissed this as a ‘show’, a mucus plug colored with blood near birth.

Alex, 37, said: ‘I really panicked when I saw blood at the end of my pregnancy.

‘I felt like they were washing their hands of me.’

Ten minutes after driving home, Alex began experiencing spasm-like pains and was bleeding heavily by the time they got home.

Although she was taken to hospital, Marnie’s heartbeat could not be found and she was pronounced dead at 14.30.

Marnie was stillborn 19 hours later at 9.55am on April 21, 2020.

Midwives ignored her concerns and sent her home, but she began bleeding and although she was taken to hospital by ambulance, her daughter Marnie was stillborn.

After a protracted legal battle, Dorset University Hospitals paid them £130,000 in damages, but no admission of fault was accepted by the trust. Pictured: Alex and Steven Barr with their two sons.

Alex said that in the weeks before her daughter’s death, she had been asking about the risks of stillbirth and the possibility of premature birth, which was ‘still haunting her’.

A legal investigation conducted by Alex and Steven’s lawyers, Enable Law, identified nine areas of alleged negligence.

Dorset University Hospitals denies any wrongdoing, including any fresh bleeding and the need for immediate hospitalization of the case.

Alex and Steven said they wanted to meet with the hospital trust during legal proceedings but were refused.

Alex said: ‘The whole legal process was dehumanizing.

‘I feel like I don’t have justice.’

A spokesman for UHD said: ‘We are deeply sorry for Alex and Steven Barr after the loss of their daughter Marnie.

‘We have reviewed their cases extensively and always made improvements from any advice or information we found.

‘We also have a dedicated training team who train colleagues throughout the year.’

Enable Law lawyer Jennifer Janes said she supported Alex and Steven through the legal process and had sought independent medical advice regarding Alex’s care leading to Marnie’s death.

She said: ‘We remain seriously concerned that the problems in maternity care are cultural and systemic, and this is often reflected in the findings of independent research.

‘Sadly we expect the findings at University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust to be the same.

‘We hope this will lead to meaningful change, improve patient safety and prevent families from suffering the same devastating loss as Alex and Steve.’