NUH Maternity Review: Sarah and Jack's story.
The couple blew the whistle on failures at the Trust, after their daughter Harriet was stillborn.
Last updated 5th Sep 2022
As the first full week of work, looking into failings at two maternity units in Nottingham begins- we're hearing from the family that first blew the whistle.
It all began in 2016 for Jack and Sarah Hawkins, when the day after her due date, Sarah started to have contractions.
She tells us: "I was a healthy, low risk pregnancy, everything was fine.
"The day after my due date I started having contractions, they were continuous for six days.
"During those six days I had thirteen contacts with the hospital and two admissions, and during those contacts I was always told I wasn't in labour.
"I just started to feel like a fraud because I thought I'm in so much pain, I must be the only woman that can't deliver a baby."
Now, 41 weeks pregnant, Sarah felt herself start to push.
The couple were told to head straight to the City Hospital in Nottingham and after multiple attempts by staff to find their baby's heartbeat, a consultant told the couple that their baby had died.
Nine hours later, their daughter Harriet was stillborn.
Sarah tells us: "It was like an out of body experience. I remember screaming. I remember being numb from head to toe.
"It was just so surreal because I had a perfectly healthy baby and then for six days I was told that I wasn't in labour.
"Then I went in and was told she was starting to come out and then I was told she was dead."
Jack added: "I try not to remember the moment I heard her screaming.
"Hell opened up basically...it was awful."
The couple were invited back to the hospital for a meeting, hoping for answers.
But instead, they were told Harriet died of infection.
They refused to accept this and launched their own investigation.
Initially, hospital bosses found "no obvious fault", but in 2018, an external inquiry identified 13 significant failings in care.
The inquiry found Harriet's death was "almost certainly preventable".
Since then, the Hawkins' have been campaigning for an independent review.
The couple, who previously worked for the trust, were one of a number of families who lobbied former health secretary Sajid Javid.
Senior midwife Donna Ockenden was appointed to lead the review at NUH back in May 2022, following her previous work investigating the deaths of more than 200 babies at Shrewsbury and Telford.
Sarah told us: "It's a massive sense of relief to eventually feel like we've been heard and believed.
"Those two things seem like such simple things but they mean so much."
Jack adds: "We have other people finding out- we just won't feel like we're going mad.
"It's been like the man in the iron mask...horrible, for years.
"Here it is, it's happening."
When asked about what they wanted from the review, Sarah added: "What I'd love the hospital to think of is, Harriet's not going to school.
"We're not able to take her picture at the front door on her first day of school. There's an empty pair of shoes.
"We drove home with an empty car seat.
"I feel like they need to make it human again."
Donna Ockenden and her team begin their first full week of work today (5th SEPT).
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