Mother Traumatized As Her Dead Baby Falls On Floor: Labor Induced After Baby Died In Womb

A couple has lodged a complaint with a hospital after a woman was forced to go through labor and deliver her baby after the baby had died in her womb. What happened during that delivery was very traumatizing to both parents, which is why Fay and Danny Hempton have registered a complaint.

The couple claims their baby dropped to the floor and was not picked up from the ground and covered with a cloth until they “begged” the midwife to do so. The sound of the baby hitting the floor was extremely traumatizing to both the mother and father who were heart broken over this loss going into the delivery room knowing they were about to deliver a baby that had died.

This occurred in East Sussex, England, at the Conquest Hospital in St. Leonards-on-Sea, according to the Sun. The reason that the couple has lodged a complaint and have gone public with this — they never want another couple to ever go through what they’ve been through. Whether a baby is born alive or dead, Fay conveys that this should make no difference on how the birth or the mother’s labor is handled.

Fay wrote the following in the complaint to the hospital.

“What I have experienced must never happen again to any parent. The loss of a child is the most upsetting and world-crumbling thing to ever have to go through and it’s something I feel I will never fully get over.”

The baby’s birth is classified as a miscarriage or late fetal loss at 20 weeks, rather than a still birth, which happens at 24 weeks and beyond in a pregnancy. Despite the terminology used for this dead baby, it was their son and the respect should have been there, the couple expressed in their complaint.

Knowing their son was dead when going through the labor was hard enough. Fay said that once the child was delivered this was the “only time we were going to have with our son and it would have been emotional and heartfelt and hard but what happened was an absolute tragedy.”

While pregnant Fay said she felt less and less movement coming from her baby. When she told the doctor this, she was checked and assured all was fine. When she suffered a small bleed and headed back to the doctors, the awful news was delivered: the baby had died in her womb.

Once labor was induced, it took 45 minutes for Fay to deliver her deceased son. She yelled for the midwife to help her as the baby was coming, but she didn’t help. Fay told the midwife that she couldn’t catch the baby, as she was in the standing position while giving birth.

The baby was delivered and fell right to the floor. They report that they “begged” the midwife to pick up the baby. She covered the baby with a surgical cloth, then picked him up, and placed him on a nearby bench, Fay said.

This is the horrific memory they will carry with them the rest of their lives, the sad mom conveyed. Fay and Danny have a 5-year-old daughter, Poppy, and the three family members were overwhelmingly excited when learning they were expecting this second child.

“Grieving parents should not have to go through something like this,” said Fay.

She believes “changes” and “improvements” are called for in this hospital when dealing with a situation such as the one they experienced.

Dr Adrian Bull, chief executive of the hospital, which is run by NHS East Sussex Healthcare Trust, said, “I would like to assure you that the trust is committed to providing the highest standards of care and treatment to patients, their families, and carers, and I apologise to you and your partner as this has clearly not been your experience.”

In a direct response to the couple, Bull said, “I recognize how upsetting this will have been for you and your partner to witness, and offer my heartfelt apologies to you both.”

[Featured Image by yari2000/Shutterstock]