Danielle Brown, 31, was discharged from a Newcastle hospital in February 2023 while suffering from pre-eclampsia, a life-threatening condition. After she returned to the maternity unit feeling unwell, doctors found her unborn daughter had died. Instead of delivering the baby immediately, staff sent her home and told her to telephone to book an appointment for delivery. She gave birth two days later after 10 hours in labour.
Newcastle Hospitals NHS Trust said it "fully accepted that aspects of the care we provided fell short" and offered an apology. The trust's executive director of nursing and midwifery, Ian Joy, said the trust admitted Brown should not have been discharged on either February 14 or 15, 2023. He said the trust has since improved urgent assessment procedures and introduced quicker escalation for suspected complications.
Legal executive Faisal Ali said that had Brown remained in hospital, monitoring would have shown the need to speed up delivery and the baby would have been born alive.
Brown and her partner Anthony Miller now call for all UK hospitals to provide alternative exit routes for parents who have lost a baby, so they do not have to walk past other parents leaving with newborns.