NUH maternity review: Michelle's story
The county councillor and mum's been left with PTSD due to poor care.
Michelle Welsh, from Arnold, had a difficult pregnancy.
She was diagnosed with gestational diabetes and a condition called a heart-shaped womb.
Following advice from her consultant, she booked a planned Caesarean section and was under strict instructions to call the City Hospital to be admitted immediately, if she went into labour early.
The consultant also left notes stating this on her file.
But, when labour began and Michelle called the hospital's maternity unit, she said the midwife told her she did not have time to check her file and she would not be admitted.
"I was in quite a vulnerable position and at that point, I took the advice of what that midwife said.
"She'd spoken to me with no care or no compassion.
"I think I went into a little bit of shock because I was obviously really concerned with what was happening with my body."
Michelle was eventually admitted to hospital, but, by the time she got there her waters had broken.
"When I arrived at the hospital, a midwife said, why did you leave it so long? Why have you done this?
"To which I said, I spoke to a midwife here in the department, and she told me not to come in yet.
"She was quite shocked by this, quite horrified."
The hospital staff then tried to check the baby's heartbeat, and after wheeling in three broken machines, they managed to find it.
Michelle tells us:
"I was lying there, blaming myself and not knowing if my baby was alive or not."
She went on to say the the hospital consultant working on her didn't interact at all and despite her baby's heartrate peaking and dropping drastically, she was initially told the Caesarean would be performed the following morning.
"The midwife said this isn't right, I don't feel comfortable with this.
"She went off to see the consultant again.
"My partner Richard and I were just left there with this heart monitor, showing that his heart wasn't beating like it should be"
"The consultant re-entered the room begrudgingly and said we are going to have to do an emergency C-section as soon as possible.
"It was all totally avoidable."
Michelle's son Billy didn't cry straight away, but when he did, she tells us it was a huge 'relief'.
After Michelle and Billy were taken up to the ward, she says midwives told her to get some rest and that she was told someone would be in to check on them every 10 minutes.
Michelle then drifted off to sleep- for what she believes was around an hour and a half.
"When I woke up, I looked over to see my baby and I took my first photo of my son.
"But when I leant over to see him, who was covered in his own vomit. All over his face and all over the cot.
"I felt like I'd failed him, but now, I realise it wasn't me that failed. They failed me."
A review into maternity services at Nottingham University Hospitals Trust has completed its first full week of work today (SEPT 8th).
Michelle tells us:
" I think it's a watershed moment for women and babies in Nottingham.
"Every family that I speak to, at every single different level, all of them say that they were dismissed when they said they thought that something was wrong.
"It has to stop."
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