NUH maternity review: 'The Doctors cut out my bladder without realising'

It was removed by accident during a planned C-section.

Author: Maddy BullPublished 5th Sep 2022
Last updated 6th Sep 2022

In 2015, Felicity Benyon, from Mansfield, fell pregnant with her second baby.

From week 19, the then 29 year old was in and out of hospital with bleeding, caused by placenta percreta, which is where the placenta attaches to the uterus and starts to grow through it.

It was for this reason, that Felicity was scheduled for a C-section.

She was told a team of consultants had met before the surgery, to ensure the correct specialists were in place.

But, the mum of two tells us that didn't happen:

"Almost as soon as it started things started to go wrong.

"They couldn't tell what was womb, what was baby, it was all one big mass.

"They still let a student doctor perform the C-section. They didn't stop and call the relevant people.

"They just went ahead and had a go".

As the surgery went on, it became clear Felicity needed an emergency hysterectomy.

She added:

"Between the obstetrician and the gynaecologist they performed the rest of the operation and, without realising they'd even done it, they'd chopped my bladder off.

When Felicity woke up from surgery, she was told about the complications.

She tells us:

"They completely lied to me when I came round.

"They told me I would've lost my bladder anyway. That it shouldn't have happened like that but that I lost all of my blood, that I very nearly died and that they saved the day.

"From here, I should just get better, recover, go home and just be a mum.

Weeks later, she was told by other medical staff in charge of her care to get a lawyer to investigate exactly what happened.

After a five year legal battle, Nottingham University Hospitals Trust accepted liability.

Since then, Felicity's been campaigning alongside other families, calling for an independent inquiry into maternity services at NUH.

As that review, led by Donna Ockenden continues into its first full week of work, Felicity tells us:

"There isn't anyone else that can do this, she is the person and the only person we as families trusted to do it.

"Things will change, she'll make things change.

"I would urge anyone that's had a baby at either of NUH's campuses, that's had any sort of a negative experience to come forwards.

"Whether that's physically, psychologically, whether you didn't feel listened to.

"It doesn't have to be that you or your baby has come to serious harm, it just needs to be that something wasn't right"

Michelle Rhodes, Chief Nurse at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, said:

“We are deeply sorry for the unimaginable distress that has been caused due to failings in our maternity services.

"We know that an apology will never be enough and we owe it to those who have been failed, those we’re caring for today and to our staff to deliver a better maternity service for our communities.

"We welcome Donna Ockenden and her team to Nottingham and will work with them to achieve this.”

Families seeking to contact the inquiry team can email nottsreview@donnaockenden.com

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