U.K. maternity scandal review finds 200 avoidable baby deaths
CTV
A review into a scandal-hit British hospital group said Wednesday that persistent failures in maternity care contributed to the avoidable deaths of more than 200 babies over two decades.
The review began in 2018 after two families that had lost their babies in the care of Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust in western England campaigned for an inquiry.
Former senior midwife Donna Ockenden led an investigation into almost 1,600 incidents between 2000 and 2019, including cases of stillbirth, neonatal death, maternal death and other severe complications in mothers and newborns.
The investigation found 131 stillbirths, 70 neonatal deaths and nine maternal deaths either could have or would have been avoided with better care.
Ockenden said Wednesday that hospital management "failed to investigate, failed to learn and failed to improve."
