Couple plan Lewisham NHS trust lawsuit after stillbirth

Courtney Perkins told staff at Lewisham Hospital that her baby had stopped moving but was left waiting 10 hours before an expert finally checked.

By then, her baby had already died.

She was kept in hospital another five days, eventually delivering her stillborn son on Christmas Day. She and her partner Elliott Garrett named the baby Reggie.

Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust admitted that its own policies were breached, but said those breaches meant it could not be determined whether Reggie’s life might have been saved.

“There was no attempt to determine fetal wellbeing on admission to the Emergency Department and so it is not possible to say that an earlier review by an obstetrician would have altered the outcome,” the trust’s investigation report concluded.

Courtney was rushed to hospital by her mother-in-law on December 20, 2022, because she was heavily pregnant, had the flu and was a Type 1 diabetic.

“I had noticed reduced movement,” she said. “I checked in at A&E. You have to fill out a form. I wrote my symptoms on there and mentioned reduced movements.”

She was suffering from Diabetic Ketoacidosis, which can be fatal to unborn babies.

Courtney Perkins was rushed to University Hospital Lewisham on December 20, 2022, and reported that her baby's movements were becoming less frequent (Image: Google Maps)

“They put me on a drip,” said Courtney. “I kept asking them to get someone to check on the baby. They said they had buzzed through to the obstetrics doctor on call.

“The whole time, I kept asking where someone was and kept getting the same answer: ‘They’ve been called. They’re coming’.

“I kept saying I was feeling him less and less. It just felt like it went ignored.”

Hours later, Courtney was moved to intensive care.

“Again, I asked where someone was to check on the baby,” she said.

“I had got to the hospital just before 11am. Someone from obstetrics didn’t come until about 9pm or 10pm.”

A series of tests failed to locate baby Reggie’s heartbeat.

“I knew he had gone,” Courtney said, adding that a post-mortem later concluded he had died in the womb on December 20.

After he was stillborn five days later, a midwife – apparently unaware of the tragedy – approached Elliott and said: “Congratulations. Christmas will never be the same for you now.”

The incident left Courtney struggling psychologically.

“The hardest thing for me is knowing that Reggie basically suffocated inside me,” she said. “I wanted to kill myself. I blamed myself because I’m diabetic. I think that took a huge toll on my mental health.”

Baby Reggie was stillborn on Christmas Day 2022, but a post-mortem found he had died in the womb on December 20, said his mum Courtney Perkins (Image: Courtney Perkins)

But then an internal investigation by the trust found Courtney “should have been referred for immediate review to the senior obstetric registrar on call” but was instead “referred to the gynaecology on call doctor”.

She was “not seen by an obstetrician until approximately 10 hours after she first presented to the Emergency Department”.

“Maternal and fetal wellbeing could have been assessed by the maternity team earlier,” the report said.

It added: “It is difficult to say if an obstetric review had happened sooner the outcome would have been different as [Courtney] was extremely unwell and therefore earlier delivery may have been inappropriate, had signs of fetal distress been detected.”

But Courtney said some questions remained unanswered.

“From our latest meeting with the hospital, they said A&E has proved that a call was made to obstetrics and that call should have been answered within an hour,” she said.

But no explanation has ever been given for why nobody attended.

“Basically, someone had answered that buzz, but just not come,” Courtney said.

She and Elliott, both 26, are now talking to a solicitor about potential legal action.

They have since had another baby called Harrison. But, said Courtney, Christmas remains a difficult time for the couple.

The trust said its investigation had “identified that the system for making and receiving referrals between A&E and maternity was not clear enough or as established as it should have been.”

A spokesperson said: “We are deeply saddened by Reggie’s death and recognise the lasting impact this has had on Courtney, Elliott and their wider family.”

They said the trust had “taken steps to improve our processes, including developing our guidelines for caring for pregnant women who attend our emergency department and improving our communications between the two areas.”

“We are truly sorry for what happened to Reggie, Courtney and their family and would like to reiterate the apology made in the report for lapses identified in their care.”