A Nottingham mum has compared the birth of her son at a Yorkshire maternity unit to a horror film, saying they were both 'very lucky to survive'. Jessica Rastall, originally from Sheffield, gave birth to her son Charlie at the Jessop Wing at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals 10 years ago.
She claims the treatment she received has left her with " a non-existent pelvic floor muscle" and she now requires surgery to stop "embarrassing" episodes of wetting herself every day. Jessica was one of five mums who spoke to Yorkshire Live, sharing stories of failings by the hospital trust which recently received an 'inadequate' rating for its maternity department by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
Her son Charlie was born on February 29, but her plans for an uplifting story with the national media about him being one of the first 2012 Leap Year babies were quickly shelved after her distressing labour. Jessica claims the third midwife who looked after her on the Jessop Wing "didn't listen" and it was only when a fourth midwife arrived shortly before midnight that the extent of her condition was recognised.
Read more: Nottingham hospitals pay out £72 million over mistakes leading to cerebral palsy
Jessica was crowning and she claims she was told her son might have opened his bowels and could have been at risk of swallowing his own faeces. Within minutes, he was born "head and body together". It left Jessica with severe tears.
"She [the midwife] told me the baby was coming there and then," said Jessica, 42. "The bottom of the bed was dropped down and my legs were put in stirrups. She told me to push and Charlie came out that fast I sustained major tears. They were catching blood in a bucket and they had to pull the placenta out.
"My sister was left holding my baby in a room which she said looked like a horror film and covered in blood. I had lost so much blood that I needed a blood transfusion. It meant I couldn't breastfeed Charlie due to the complications.
"We were both very lucky to survive that day," claimed Jessica. "One of us or both of us might not have survived. To this day, my husband won't talk about what happened. He didn’t know if his wife was going to come back. He didn't know if he was going to end up being a single parent."
A CQC report carried out in 2013, one year after Charlie's birth, found the Jessop Wing to pass all aspects of a routine inspection. But Jessica said she has lost "all my faith and all trust" in hospital care.
A decade on from giving birth to her first child, she claims the injuries she suffered have left her with lifelong issues. She said: "I'm waiting to go back into surgery because I have a non-existent pelvic floor muscle. It has always been prominent [since Charlie's birth].
"When I sneeze or when I cough I wet myself. It happens on a daily basis. It’s recently become apparent that it's a serious issue. When I had Covid, I just kept wetting myself.
"At 42 years old it’s quite an embarrassment. Thinking everywhere I go: ‘Where are the toilets’." When Jessica read YorkshireLive's exposé following the recent CQC inspection, she felt compelled to speak out about what happened to her a decade ago.
"I had every emotion possible that it’s still happening 10 years down the line," she said. "I was so angry and sad. Knowing everything that is coming out, I just need to say the failings go right back. It is not just happening in Covid."
A spokesperson for Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: "We are very sorry." The Trust's chief nurse acknowledged "we can do more" and added that improvements have been made since the CQC inspection, including the recruitment of more midwives and support staff.
