Mum of baby boy says she felt bullied by Blackpool Victoria Hospital into termination because waters broke at just 22 weeks

Chantelle Eva, 31, of Ball Street, Blackpool says she was made to feel as though she was being unfair to her unborn child by trying to continue with the pregnancy after being taken to the hospital in June last year.

But she says she fought for the right to carry on and give birth to baby Oliver, who was born prematurely in August two months later and is now six months old and doing well, despite some health issues.

The mum-of-two, who also has a seven year old son, Riley, says there went on to be a string of problems at the hospital during the course of her pregnancy which led her to prepare a formal complaint against Blackpool Victoria.

And she says the experience was so traumatic she suffers flashbacks and panic episodes similar to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the hospital, says that it would appear that standards of care and compassion had “fallen well short” and “lessons needed to be learned”.

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Chantelle said: “I thought the whole experience of my time at Blackpool Victoria was appalling and it was so bad that even now I can’t look at photos of my lovely little baby because it brings back all the stress of trauma.

"It wasn’t just all the mistakes that were made, it was the way I was made to feel like a burden and a drama queen for speaking out or even crying out when I was in absolute agony.

"Fortunately, early on I had to be transferred to Burnley Hospital for a time because they are equipped to deal with babies born before 24 weeks, and they were excellent.

"But the rest of the time, at Blackpool, was traumatic and shambolic.

"I feel I had to speak out about this so that any other mums who may have had this experience don’t feel they’re alone, and in the hope that Blackpool Victoria learns from what happened to me and doesn’t repeat it.”

When Chantelle’s waters broke on June 13 last year, doctors warned her that the baby had very little chance of survival if she gave birth before 24 weeks.

Babies born after only 23 or 24 weeks are extremely vulnerable and because their heart, lungs and brain are not ready for them to live outside the womb without intensive medical treatment - which could cause further suffering and harm.

But Chantelle says staff went too far to try and persuade her not to carry on with the birth.

She contends that aside from feeling bullied into giving up her unborn child, later on - as the birth neared and she needed a C-Section, she was in agony but not given enough pain relief, despite screaming in agony.

She claims an epidural injection was put in the wrong place, causing her leg to swell up, and that the wrong part of her spinal cavity – the dura - was accidentally punctured during the procedure, causing a leak.

She said: “After my waters broke and I first went to hospital, I was given all the information I needed and was told that my baby would probably not survive and that if he did, he would be extremely poorly with a lot of health issues including cerebral palsy, lung and respiratory issues, neurological issues.

" After being given all this information they asked me if I would like to resuscitate my baby if I was to go into labour within 48 hours from June 13 last year, to which I replied yes and that I wanted my baby resuscitated.

“I was then admitted to the hospital in a delivery suite and organised a transfer to a different hospital with a grade 3 neonatal unit which was Burnley General Hospital.

" During my wait to be transferred, I had numerous doctors and nurses coming in to repeat to me more than several times, all the risks and reasons why I should not continue my pregnancy, even though my baby still had a strong heartbeat and still had fluid present.

“I felt as though I was being coerced into giving up on my baby and being forced to terminate the pregnancy.

" I ignored their recommendations for this and stood my ground, that as long as my baby has a heartbeat, I will continue the pregnancy.”

When little Oliver was finally born in August last year, he weighed in at 5lb.

Chentelle added: "I’ve never regretted it because now I have my wonderful son and I wouldn’t be without him.

"He has a small hole in his heart but I’ve been told that will heal, and his head is a little enlarged, but he has no developmental problems and is doing really well.”

Pete Murphy, Executive Director for Nursing, Midwifery, Allied Health Professionals and Quality at Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “The Trust has not received a formal complaint from the family about the care and treatment described, but I am very keen to reach out, to ask them to talk to us and help us fully understand what happened in this case and why.

“On the face of it, it would seem our standards and quality of care, compassion and basic courtesy fell well short of the minimum people should be able to expect.

“I will ask that this is immediately and thoroughly reviewed with input from everyone involved so that we can identify and put into practice any lessons that need to be learned and improve our services for local people as needed.”