Hospital films couples as they are told unborn babies are dead

MOTHERS-TO-BE said they felt violated after a maternity unit allowed them to be ‘ covertly’ filmed as they learned their unborn babies were dead.

Tiny cameras and microphones were used to record reactions as sonographers explained to couples that pregnancies had failed for a programme set to be aired on Channel 4.

A4-sized notices were placed in public areas at the Rosie Hospital in Cambridge, which said a production company was making the film about ‘complex pregnancies’. But critics branded the exercise ‘morally repugnant’ and complained the signs were easy to miss.

Three women who have suffered stillbirths and were approached about using the footage have refused consent, it is understood. One woman, who wished only to be identified by her first name, Emilia, yesterday said no one had mentioned the filming.

She said it was only when she and her husband noticed a camera during a visit in her third trimester that they asked what it was for. The mother- of-two, a chartered accountant from Ely, said: ‘It’s absolutely out of order. We had a complex pregnancy.

‘It very much felt like someone was sitting there, watching gleefully for our pregnancy to go wrong when we were already having a difficult time.’

Calling for Roland Sinker, the chief executive of Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to resign, she added: ‘They misjudged the situation awfully and they have violated a patient’s privacy. I don’t think someone like that should be in a position of power and influence in the trust.’ Mother-of-three Tara Bungard, 38, also of Ely, who is nine weeks pregcamera nant, said ‘at no point’ were the cameras pointed out.

She added: ‘They are waiting till you have had awful news and then ask. The project needs to be shut down because it’s morally repugnant.’ The notices at the hospital stated: ‘No mums or visitors will be filmed without permission. If you are inadvertently caught on but have not been approached for permission, the footage will be edited or blurred post-production’.

But it emerged yesterday the recording equipment, which has been installed in three of the four rooms where ultrasound is carried out, is on at all times. Cambridgeshire birthing partner Becky Tal- bot, who has suffered a stillbirth herself, warned mothers were distressed by ‘ intimate’ physical examinations being filmed without their consent.

‘It’s absolutely horrifying that women are being exploited at such a sensitive time,’ she said.

Childbirth charity Birthrights has written to the hospital with concerns about the filming.

Chief executive Rebecca Schiller said there were ‘moral and legal questions to be asked’ and warned it was possible women’s rights were being infringed.

The company making the documentary, True Vision Productions, has won several awards including BAFTAs. It has also produced other shows such as a BBC Children in Need special Brought Up By Booze, hosted by Calum Best.

The company refused to comment last night, instead directing enquiries to Channel 4. A Channel 4 spokesman denied there was any ‘covert filming’.

He said: ‘Filming is ongoing in parts of the clinic but absolutely no one can ever view that footage without the express permission of the people filmed. Without their permission it is automatically deleted after several days.

‘The patients are made aware through prominent notices, with leaflets also available in a number of different languages.’

The air date and title of the show had not yet been released.

The hospital trust said it agreed to participate in the documentary to help people learn more about the ‘taboo subject’ of stillbirth.

‘Because of the sensitivity of the subject, we established a robust consent process with True Vision to safeguard women,’ it added.

‘It’s morally repugnant’