“IT’s absolutely devastating to know that we’ll never see her grow up; it breaks our hearts.”

Those are the heartbreaking words of a Bradford woman who tragically lost her daughter to stillbirth and who is now calling for lessons to be learned after a hospital Trust apologised for failings in her care.

Rebekah Muldowney, 34, was 40 weeks pregnant when she attended Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield with bleeding, pain and vomiting in August last year. She was given pain relief and, following assessment of the baby, she went home. Later the same day,

Rebekah, of Oakenshaw, returned to hospital reporting contractions, continued vomiting and blood loss.

Around an hour-and-a-half after admission, Rebekah reported she was unsure about the baby’s movements. Almost three hours later, an attempt was made to listen to the baby’s heartbeat, which couldn’t be found. and an ultrasound scan confirmed her baby, named Theodora, had died. 

Bradford Telegraph and Argus:

A post-mortem examination report stated the cause of death as acute chorioamniotisis, which is a bacterial infection affecting the membranes surrounding the baby. Following their baby’s death, Rebekah and her husband Thomas, 34, instructed medical negligence experts at Irwin Mitchell to investigate the care provided under Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust.

Through NHS Resolution, the Trust has now admitted a breach of duty. 

Rebekah, a graphic designer, said: “I don’t think we’ll ever get over losing Theodora so tragically. We were both looking forward to being parents and my pregnancy went by with no problems, so it never even crossed my mind that we wouldn’t be taking our baby girl home from hospital with us and starting a life with her.

"When I was admitted into hospital the second time, I was classed as low risk. Because of this, I was treated just like a scared first-time mum and I wasn’t listened to when I raised concerns about Theo’s reduced movements.  

"I ended up being stuck on a waiting list while my baby was in distress.”

She added: “It’s not even a year since she died and I think about her every day and often imagine what she would be like now. It’s absolutely devastating to know that we’ll never see her grow up; it breaks our hearts.  

"All we can do now is share what happened and urge other mums-to-be to push for a second opinion if they think something’s not right and advocate for themselves.

“I also want to let others know there is help out there.  We’ve had amazing support from the Forget-Me-Not Children’s Hospice in Huddersfield, and are still in contact with them to this day.”

David Melia, Director of Nursing and Quality, at Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “We offer our deepest, heartfelt condolences and sympathy to the family and we understand that this has been a very traumatic time for all involved.

"Our own investigation into the care we gave the patient and her baby, recognised that the care provided to them was deficient and fell below the standard they were entitled to expect.

"We are truly saddened that this care led to the heart-breaking death of their baby, and of course no amount of compensation can replace their loss. We want to reassure the family that measures have been put in place to try to prevent this happening to another family.” 

The stillbirth and neonatal death charity SANDS ran its Always There Campaign through June, raising awareness of support available and how when a baby dies, their memory lives on.

For more information, visit www.sands.org.uk.