Heartbroken parents slam hospital after baby son died when he was ‘starved of oxygen by blundering NHS doctors’
Louise and Craig Oakley were left devastated when their newborn son Myles suffered significant brain damage after doctors at Russell's Hall hospital in Dudley failed to deliver their baby safely
A MOTHER who lost her newborn son has slammed hospital doctors after her boy was allegedly starved of oxygen in a bungled birth. has said she will "never get over it."
Louise and Craig Oakley say they "will never get over it" after their son Myles suffered significant brain damage when she claims doctors at Russells Hall hospital failed to deliver their baby safely.
The couple who lost their newborn baby after he was allegedly starved of oxygen by NHS doctors based at the Dudley hospital will receive a 'substantial undisclosed settlement'.
They claim they were forced to turn off the life support machine keeping Myles alive in May 2015 and have today criticised the West Midlands hospital for not allowing them to spend time with the baby.
Myles’ death was one of 43 serious incidents reported at the hospital’s maternity department between April 2014 and December 2015 – 25 of which were re-examined amid concerns over how they were originally investigated.
Dudley’s NHS Trust have agreed to a ‘substantial undisclosed settlement’ and admitted liability for Myles' death but said that since the Dudley Maternity Quality Improvement Board published a report last October, maternity services at the trust were now ‘safer and more clinically effective’.
Louise, 40, said: "I wouldn’t wish the pain our family has gone through over the last few years on anyone. The agony of losing Myles is something that neither of us will fully ever get over.
"Nearly three years on I’m still angry with not only the care we received but the way we were treated by the hospital.
“We never got to hold Myles while he was still alive and after he died it felt like we were in the way. We were told his death was simply ‘one of those things’.
“Myles will always be a part of our family. We are devastated he is not here to grow up with his brother and sister.”
Louise went into the hospital on May 7, 2015, but Myles started to deteriorate during labour and Louise was given drugs to speed up the birth.
The baby was in distress but was not delivered until after 10pm and was born in a poor state and had to be resuscitated by doctors.
He deteriorated further, which led to his parents taking the heartbreaking decision to turn off Myles’ life-support machine the day after his birth.
He was found to have died from a brain injury caused by a lack of oxygen, an infection and antepartum bleeding.
Dad, Craig, said: "I just hope that Russells Hall makes improvements to make sure nobody else suffers like we have had to.”
A ‘detailed clinical review’ has since been carried out with hospital bosses putting an improvement plan in place.
The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust’s chief executive Diane Wake said: “I would like to offer my sincere condolences to Louise and Craig Oakley for the tragic loss of their baby Myles in May 2015.
“While the claim has been resolved I fully appreciate that the loss of a baby is one of the hardest burdens to bear and cannot begin to imagine how they are feeling at this time."
She added: “A quality improvement board, with an independent chair was set up in 2016, because the trust reported a higher number of serious incidents compared to comparable trusts in the West Midlands during April 2014 to December 2015.
“We worked closely and openly with our commissioners, regulators and other key health partners to review 25 maternity incidents including Myles’s tragic death.
“The fact that the families involved were prepared to assist us in our review has been invaluable and I would like to thank all of them, including Louise and Craig Oakley, for sharing their experiences.
“The quality improvement board was assured that after the detailed clinical review, and by the subsequent improvement plan, that the maternity services at the trust are safer and more clinically effective."
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