A Knaresborough couple are campaigning for changes to maternity services after ‘avoidable delays’ in delivery led to their baby daughter’s death.

Whitney Pickup went into labour at Harrogate District Hospital on July 2, 2018.

She was advised by doctors to proceed with a natural delivery even though her first child was delivered via emergency caesarean section at another hospital.

Following an unsuccessful forceps delivery, her daughter Matilda was born by caesarean section with severe brain damage.

Matilda was admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit at Bradford Royal Infirmary before being transferred to Martin House Hospice, where she died at nine days old.

Ms Pickup, 33, and husband Andy, 35, subsequently instructed medical negligence lawyers at Irwin Mitchell to investigate the care provided by Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust.

An investigation, carried out by the trust, found “there were avoidable delays in achieving the delivery of Matilda which caused or materially contributed to her sad death”.

Among the problems identified by a subsequent Root Cause Analysis Report was a failure to obtain previous maternity and delivery notes, which would have alerted doctors to the risks involved as well as avoidable delays in the operating theatre and communication issues.

The couple are now campaigning for Matilda’s Law to make it mandatory for hospital trusts to share antenatal, maternity and labour records if the mother is under the care of a different trust in future pregnancies.

Ms Pickup, who is also mother to Charlie, five, and Isaac, one, believes her daughter’s death could have been avoided if the hospital had requested her medical records. She said:

“It’s still so difficult for me and Andy to accept that Matilda is no longer here and she didn’t get to experience any sort of life.

“What makes it worse and all the more upsetting is knowing our daughter’s death could have been avoided had the hospital simply requested my medical records, making them aware of the risks.

“We will never forget Matilda and she will always be part of our family.  We now want to honour her memory by it being law for trusts to share relevant information to improve patient care and ensure staff are aware of any potential complications.

“If we can prevent this happening to anyone else than at least we can take something from what we’ve had to go through.”

An inquest into Matilda’s death, which is expected to last for four days, started in Harrogate yesterday.

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Victoria Moss, the specialist medical negligence lawyer representing the couple, said:

“Through our work, we sadly come across too many families left to pick up the pieces following the death of a baby following avoidable failings.

“We would urge trusts to always work in partnership, not only by sharing patient records so the best possible care plans can be put in place, but also by sharing best practice. This we believe would reduce the number of mother and babies either seriously injured or killed.

A spokesman for Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust said it would comment after the inquest.

Local artist Jos Haigh will sell her work at a preview event to raise money for Harrogate Hospital & Community Charity.

The event, at the Cedar Court Hotel in Harrogate on November 27, will showcase Ms Haigh’s vibrant wildlife art while also generating funds for the charity.

One hundred percent of the sale prices will go to the charity, which funds specialist equipment, training and services at Harrogate District Hospital outside what the NHS provides.

The charity recently funded colouring and art materials for patients at the hospital during the pandemic.

People who attend the preview event will have the opportunity to meet Ms Haigh, who lives in Harrogate and exhibits all over the country, as well as enjoy mince pies and mulled wine.

Christmas gifts and the charity’s newly launched 2021 calendar will also be on sale.

Ms Haigh told the Stray Ferret her works of art had been in a gallery in York for three weeks but lockdown had restricted viewings so she decided to donate them to the charity. She added:

“I chose to donate these paintings after the extremely tough year HDFT has had dealing with a global pandemic as well as the usual challenges that healthcare brings.

“I wanted to say a rainbow thank you to my local NHS trust for all it has done and continues to do.”

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Sammy Lambert, business development, charity and volunteer manager at HHCC, said: 

“We are so grateful for this incredible donation of paintings from Jos. They are beautiful and will brighten up people’s homes, even more so in the knowledge that they are supporting their local NHS.”

The preview evening is free to attend but tickets must but pre-booked. To get one, email hdft.hhcc@nhs.net.

If you can’t make the evening, Ms Haigh’s paintings are available to view and purchase here. 

A pop-up shop inside Harrogate District Hospital has launched a craft and sewing competition to boost donations.

Volunteers run the Harrogate Hospital Pop-Up Shop five days a week to give donated groceries to hospital staff. It first opened in March to support those working at the hospital during coronavirus who were unable to get to supermarkets or found the shelves bare after long shifts.

Volunteer Fiona Ryan said:

“Since children broke up from schools we have had a drop in support. We reckon that at least 80 hospital staff come to us daily for groceries and we send parcels out to staff at home with covid symptoms. We also send boxes up to the covid wards.”

The Harrogate Pop Up Sewing Bee is asking for photographs of sewn or crafted clothing which represent this year’s pandemic.

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The competition is split into age categories and entries are to be submitted with a £2 donation. When the competition closes on August 30, all photographs will be arranged into a collage for Harrogate District Hospital.

Entries will be judged by Steve Russell, chief executive of Harrogate and District Foundation Trust, Captain Rummage (Chris Powell) from Bettys & Taylors recycling project The Cone Exchange, and Fran Taylor who set up the Harrogate Scrubbers group to address a national scrubs shortage through coronavirus.

All submissions have the chance to win one of multiple prizes donated by Harrogate businesses. These include a meal at The Fat Badger, a Neom Organics candle and other goodies from The Harrogate Cookie Company and Little Breads.

Ms Ryan said:

“People are starting to believe that covid has gone away, which isn’t the case. The hospital is busier than ever. This competition will really support us.”

To enter, donate £2 to the pop-up shop’s PayPal and send your photo to their Facebook group, or for non-Facebook users, email Fiona Ryan at fionaryan2812@icloud.com.