A mother blamed herself for her baby’s death for a decade. Now the hospital has admitted it made fatal errors
For a decade after her baby Kaiden was stillborn, Hayley Brunt blamed herself for the child’s death.
The “deep grief” in believing she had been to blame for her baby’s death sent Hayley’s mental health into a spiral so bad she made multiple attempts to take her life, and caused her extreme anxiety during later pregnancies.
Now Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH) has admitted that its own mistakes led to the death of Kaiden in 2013.
Ms Brunt, 27, is one of almost 2,000 families whose maternity care will be scrutinised by an inquiry led by Donna Ockenden. The probe was launched by Sajid Javid, then the secretary of state for health and social care, after The Independent revealed in 2021 that dozens of babies and mothers had been harmed as a result of poor care by NUH services.
The trust is also facing a criminal investigation into alleged failings in its maternity care.
Speaking with The Independent, Hayley – who has since had three more children – said that shortly after Kaiden’s funeral she was told by a hospital doctor that his death had been due to her placenta “not working”.
“This led to me blaming myself and my body for what happened to him. The inconsolable grief for Kaiden’s loss and the blame I felt caused my mental health to spiral. I began suffering awful nightmares about Kaiden and his delivery, which continue today. I became so depressed and low that it led to me making a number of attempts to end my life.
“I have had more children since Kaiden’s death, and each of the pregnancies has been plagued with anxiety and fear that history will repeat itself,” she said.
In January 2013, when she was just 15 years old, Hayley reported experiencing reduced foetal movements to the staff at NUH, but was told it was nothing to worry about.
A month later she reported bleeding, which led to a two-night hospital admission, but again staff gave assurances that everything was OK with her baby’s health.
She raised concerns over her baby’s lack of movement a second and third time, in March and April that year, but was sent away with assurances that her baby was not in danger.
She told The Independent that, at the time, she felt that the midwives and doctors dismissed her concerns because of her young age.
Just one week from her due date, Hayley came into the hospital again with similar concerns, but she was sent home a fourth time after a heart rate scan, called a CTG, was carried out.
On 24 April, following a scheduled growth scan, doctors told Ms Brunt that Kaiden had died and that she would have to undergo labour.
In December 2022, after Ms Ockenden was appointed to chair the Nottingham maternity inquiry, Ms Brunt received a letter revealing that Kaiden’s death was to be included in the investigation.
After she pursued a legal claim, led by firm Leigh Day, it came to light that the trust had not only failed to follow guidance on reduced foetal movements but had carried out an investigation into Kaiden’s stillbirth without informing Hayley or her parents. This investigation did not identify any failings by the hospital.
However, after the inquiry began, the trust reviewed her case and found that, had Hayley been offered an induction of labour sooner, Kaiden’s death would have been avoided.
“When I heard the hospital had admitted liability for Kaiden’s death, I was absolutely devastated. Life has been unbelievably hard this past decade, and so much of what I’ve been through stems from the trauma and grief of losing my baby when I was so young.
“If I had known that his death could have been avoided back then, I wouldn’t have spent the past 10 years blaming myself for what happened,” Ms Brunt told The Independent.