Midwives in baby deaths probe were praised by experts
A HEALTH trust at the centre of a maternity scandal was praised by watchdogs for performing a low number of caesareans.
The Shrewsbury and Telford hospital group is the subject of a major review over concerns that dozens of babies and mothers died needlessly.
Yesterday the Mail revealed that up to 60 possible cases of poor maternity care have been identified at the trust since 1998, three times more than first thought.
The NHS regulator has since confirmed it is planning to widen its review to consider all of the additional cases.
But documents reveal that the trust was praised by two official bodies for having a low caesarean section rate and for encouraging women to have natural births.
Both the Care Quality Commission and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists singled out the low number of surgical births as one of the trust’s strengths.
Several families claim their babies died because midwives were intent on them being born naturally, rather than via caesarean or through the use of forceps.
Published last August, the CQC’s report, states: ‘The trust was achieving higher than average vaginal birth rates. The caesarean rates were below (better than) the trust and national targets.’
It rates the trust’s main maternity depart- ment – the Princess Royal Hospital in Telford – as ‘good’, in terms of effectiveness, in part because of the low numbers. A second report published last month by the royal college highlighted the trust’s low caesarean section rates as a strength.
The document states that only 14 per cent of women who had their first baby at the trust had a caesarean section, compared with a national average of 22 per cent.
Just 19 per cent of women having their second, third or fourth babies had caesareans where the national figure is just under 22 per cent.
Experts believe the drive for natural childbirth may have contributed to many of the deaths and incidents of poor care. Even the trust’s website encourages natural labours, stating: ‘We promote normality in childbirth.’
The failings at the trust are feared to be worse than those at the Morecambe Bay hospital trust in Cumbria, where 16 babies and three mothers died. Yesterday the health watchdog, NHS Improvement, said it would widen the review into the hospital’s maternity services to consider additional cases.
It was launched by former health secretary Jeremy Hunt last January to look into 23 cases and was expected to report back later this year. But figures uncovered by the Health Service Journal and shared with the Mail show that at least 60 cases have now been identified.
The Shrewsbury trust tried to play down its failings yesterday by accusing the Mail and other news organisations of scaremongering. While it acknowledged that 60 cases of potential poor care had been identified, it claimed that 19 of these had been dismissed.
The trust’s chief executive Simon Wright said: ‘We take our responsibilities in reviewing these cases very seriously. To suggest that there are more cases which have not been revealed when this is simply untrue is irresponsible and scaremongering.’
A CQC spokesman insisted its report was not praising the trust’s low caesarean rates but merely pointing out how they compared.
Have you been affected by this scandal? Contact the Mail at maternity@dailymail.co.uk