The parents of a boy with cerebral palsy have called for lessons to be learnt after he was born with 'entirely avoidable' brain damage after a three-week delay in his delivery. Seb Collins, four, was born in a poor condition at Leeds General Infirmary after being starved of oxygen in his mum’s womb.
A midwife raised concerns at his 35 week scan after she spotted a condition known as intermittent end diastolic flow in one of the arteries. Leeds Teaching Hospital NHS Trust, which runs the hospital, has admitted that after seeing the abnormal scan results at 35 weeks, he should have been delivered at 37 weeks.
Instead he was delivered at 40 weeks. After being delivered, he had to be resuscitated and spent five days on a ventilator - and at the age of three he was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, Leeds Live reports.
He has a number of disabilities including motor and speech difficulties and needs additional support at school. Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust apologised to the family and admitted that it “failed on multiple occasions” to follow up with a care plan.
It also accepted that if Seb had been born at 37 weeks, his brain injury would have been entirely avoided. Harriet, a legal secretary, said: “We assumed that because Seb was being closely monitored that there would be no problems.
“But as soon as Seb was delivered I knew something wasn’t right and seeing him in the first few days on a ventilator was particularly hard. When we got the diagnosis of cerebral palsy for Seb, it was a real mix of emotions.
“We just hope that by speaking out we can help prevent others going through what we have. It’s also important that families in a similar situation to us don’t feel they have to go through this alone. Help and support is available.”
In May 2017, a midwife raised concerns about Seb’s growth. A scan revealed there was intermittent absent end-diastolic flow in one artery – meaning Seb may not be receiving all of the oxygen and nutrients he required.
Doctors said Seb had good foetal movements and ruled no further assessment was required. And on 12 May 2017, Harriet attended another appointment but no concerns were raised by medics.
But a fortnight later Harriet underwent a further growth scan where it was found there was still intermittent absent end-diastolic flow. On 6 June a midwife noted Seb’s growth as static and referred Harriet to hospital.
On 8 June, 2017 Harriet, who was 40 weeks pregnant, was admitted to hospital and induced. He was born later that day then spent 10 days in hospital.
Harriet added: "Seb is such a determined little boy. He wants to join in with what everyone else is doing and perseveres when finding things tough. He faces challenges throughout the day, from speech and making himself understood to mobility, pain, fatigue, struggling with grip and balance."
Rachelle Mahapatra, the expert medical negligence lawyer representing the family said: “Sadly Seb suffered devastating but avoidable injuries which will continue to affect him and his family for the rest of their lives. Whilst we welcome the Trust’s co-operation and apology, it’s now vital that lessons are learned to improve maternity safety for other families.
“Seb’s case is a stark reminder of the life-changing consequences families can be left to face because of care failings. We continue to campaign for improvements in maternity safety.”
Dr Phil Wood, Chief Medical Officer and Deputy Chief Executive Officer at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust said: "Our Chief Executive wrote to the family at the beginning of the year to express our sincere apologies in relation to the care Mrs Collins received.
"We are extremely saddened for the impact this has had on Mrs Collins and her family, and in particular Sebastian. I want to reassure our patients and their families that we have undertaken a full investigation into the care offered to Mrs Collins, the outcome of which has led to significant learning and improvements in care and safety.
"Over the past few years we have put in place a number of changes, including employing a Consultant lead for the fetal assessment unit, training more midwife sonographers, instigating regular clinical audits and reviews of scans and holding teaching sessions about baby heartbeat listening devices, and their interpretation.
"We also launched a new dedicated consultant-led small baby clinic that cares for small babies prior to 37 weeks and reviews babies with abnormal heartbeat audio before 37 weeks, even in the context of normal growth. I would like to reiterate our apologies to Mrs Collins and her family and we wish them the very best."
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