Banbury Mums recount heart-breaking childbirth stories as campaigners call for Horton maternity review

One woman whose baby was stillborn described how ‘a culmination of systematic failures left me feeling abandoned and utterly alone in my darkest hour’.

Campaign group Keep the Horton General (KTHG) says its warnings about disasters and a lack of capacity at the JR after the Horton obstetric unit was removed by the Oxford University Hospitals Trust (OUH), are happening on a regular basis.

The Care Quality Commission last week reduced the rating of the Horton’s midwife-only unit from ‘good’ to ‘requires improvement’. It said babies born there could be ‘at risk of harm’. At the time of the downgrade there were 1,700-1,800 births a year in Banbury. Now there are only 134 a year.

Mother Louise Truby, whose son Rome was stillborn in January 2023, said: "His stillbirth shattered my world and left me grappling with a grief so profound it felt it would never end. Rome's passing wasn't just a tragic event, it was the culmination of a series of systemic failures that left me feeling abandoned and utterly alone in my darkest hour,” she said.“My journey began weeks before Rome's birth with complications plaguing my pregnancy. Medical professionals repeatedly dismissed my concerns. Despite my intuition telling me something was terribly wrong, doctors reassured me saying ‘he is safer inside of you than outside’. I begged them to get him out of me to prevent an unfortunate outcome.

“My worst fears were realized - Rome stopped moving altogether. Desperate, I called the Horton multiple times but my cries fell on deaf ears. Left waiting for over five hours feeling utterly helpless, the uncertainty suffocated me with fear and anxiety.

"The most agonizing moment came when I was left alone in the waiting room, grappling with my baby's fate, while the midwife took her lunch break.

Most of the midwives simply watched me cry, only one offered any comfort. I was told bluntly, ‘your baby has died’ - devoid of any compassion."

Mrs Truby was told she would have to provide her own transport to the JR, Oxford.

"I felt invisible - my pain didn't matter. And when I finally reached the JR, after waiting to speak to a consultant who never arrived, instead of finding comfort and support I was met with more waiting and indifference.

"The hours stretched into days, each moment filled with anguish and uncertainty. I begged for an emergency c-section but my pleas were ignored. We arrived at 5.05pm and weren’t seen until 11.30pm.

"At 8.24am a midwife told us ‘the doctor is new and doesn’t know what she is doing but the day staff do so she is going to pass over to them’,” said Mrs Truby.

"At 8.50am the doctor arrived with a consent form. We didn’t arrive at the delivery suite until 9.49pm. Rome was born the next day at 6.46am, two and a half days after finding out he passed away.

"We had to sit in a delivery room surrounded by mothers giving birth and hearing babies’ cries."Rome’s appearance shocked and devastated me. No one warned me of the grim reality - he was bleeding from every orifice and skin peeled and raw. The lack of compassion from medical staff added to my pain.

"We finally mustered the courage to leave him in the cold cot and go home. When we returned he had bled through his clothes; no midwife felt the need to change them anticipating our return to see him before he was taken for a post mortem.

"Amid the darkness, there was a glimmer of validation. The consultant in Obstetrics and Feto-maternal Medicine accepted liability on behalf of the NHS, acknowledging profound failures in my care.

"While accountability may offer some closure, it can never fill the hole in my heart where Rome's presence once was. His memory will forever be etched in my soul. Let this be a reminder of the urgent need for change in our healthcare system. May his legacy inspire compassion, empathy and a commitment that no parent ever has to endure the pain and neglect I experienced."

The post mortem showed that if Mrs Truby had been seen sooner, the outcome might have been different.

Beth Hopper said had suffered appallingly when her baby was found to have died before birth. Because of space shortages at the JR, she was given the news while in a bed next to a woman with her newborn baby. Her family was 30 miles away.

""I've been in and out of the JR since 2017 and have witnessed the decline. Once, I spent the whole day in gynae ward with a threatened miscarriage with no one to scan me to tell if I'd had miscarried. I had to tell staff what to do and tests to run,” she said.

Another woman recounted many hospital visits because her baby’s size required fortnightly scans. She says it was an added pressure to take days off work and arrange lifts.

Yet another said her baby’s head was cut because of attempts to break her waters after she had told midwives they had broken. She had been sent home with her baby’s heart rate too high.

Milica Redfearn, Director of Midwifery at OUH said: “We want to make every birth experience a good one and are proud of the range of services we are able to offer in Oxfordshire including midwifery-led units, home births and our delivery suite at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford. I would encourage anyone who has any concerns to contact us as we are always keen to improve our services as we strive for excellence.”

Charlotte Bird of KTHG said: “This is heartbreaking but we predicted it. It is time the NHS reviewed the terrible evidence and worked to bring obstetrics back to Banbury.”