"He was resuscitated and, after approximately 17 minutes, took his first breath. As a result, he suffered a severe brain injury."

A mother's experience of Oxford University Hospitals Maternity Services in 2005:

My son received substandard care at the John Radcliffe Hospital. An SHO misinterpreted his CTG trace, and despite signs that he was in distress, no action was taken.

Two hours later, his heart rate dropped again, and this too was missed by the attending midwife. It was only when a doctor happened to glance into the room roughly half an hour later that the serious nature of the situation was recognised.

My son was delivered immediately, but at birth his Apgar score was 0. He was resuscitated and, after approximately 17 minutes, took his first breath.

As a result, he suffered a severe brain injury.

We later received a formal letter of apology, in which the hospital promised that staff would be required to attend a minimum of two CTG training sessions per year “to minimise the risk of misinterpretation in the assessment of complex CTG traces.”

We pursued a medical negligence claim, and the hospital admitted liability from the outset. My son lived with cerebral palsy, quadriplegia, and was non-verbal. Despite this, he was generally a fit and well child.

My son died in February of this year from pneumonia, exacerbated by complications related to his cerebral palsy. He died in the same hospital in which he had been born, again from oxygen deprivation. His care on the Respiratory ward was good.

My two older daughters and I are devastated. Their father died in 2023 and losing my son was a terrible shock.

My whole life was geared around his care, I managed a team of 10 carers and he was home schooled for many years with teachers and therapists seeing him at home as attending school was difficult.

I never felt anger towards the midwives who were present at his birth, I know one of them took 18 months off following his traumatic birth. I do however feel very let down by the management of the hospital, who failed to ensure that the Maternity Unit was adequately staffed, that the staff were adequately trained and that the duty of candour was upheld.

If it was not for a consultant who inadvertently admitted that things had gone wrong, I am not sure that the hospital would have capitulated as quickly as they did.