Hospital trust apologises as Danielle Brown seeks maternity care changes after Maisie May died

BBC One West reported that Danielle Brown, 31, from North Tyneside, was 29 weeks pregnant, about seven months, when she developed sudden onset severe preeclampsia. She and her baby, Maisie May, were in danger after Maisie's heart rate dropped. A midwife pulled an emergency code and Brown was transferred by ambulance from Northumberland to Newcastle, where the RVI was to carry out a caesarean section.

The report said an initial consultant told Brown she would stay in hospital until Maisie was born because she was very poorly. The next day a different consultant discharged her. Back at home she felt a sharp pain and returned to hospital, where a consultant told her Maisie no longer had a heartbeat.

According to BBC One West, Brown and Anthony expected Maisie to be delivered straight away but were sent home again. A staff member wrote a number and told them to call on Friday morning to book a slot to come in to have Maisie. Brown described lying in bed, holding her belly and still feeling Maisie while knowing she was not alive as horrible.

Brown returned to hospital and was in labour for 10 hours before Maisie was born. She first asked a midwife to take the baby away, then asked what she was like. The midwife said she was a baby and beautiful, and Brown asked for her back. The couple described Maisie as tiny and beautiful, with a little blonde hair.

According to BBC One West, NHS England said its deepest sympathies were with the family for their loss and the distress caused, and that the failings in care were unacceptable and should never have happened. The report said Newcastle Hospitals fully accepted that the standard of care fell below what the family had every right to expect and offered a heartfelt apology. The trust said that following a review in 2023 it had improved urgent assessment of women with unexpected symptoms or suspected complications so they are seen quicker.

BBC One West reported that there were clear errors in Brown's care: preeclampsia was correctly diagnosed and recognised, but she was discharged when she should have been admitted and kept under review as the initial consultant planned. The trust accepted that, had that happened, Maisie would have been born alive.

The couple are calling for every hospital to think again before sending a woman home after her baby has died. They also want hospitals to stop making bereaved mothers leave alongside women carrying their babies, and to use a different route for a parent who has just lost a child. They have a two-year-old son, Harrison, who knows about his big sister.