Speaking Out For First Time On Ordeal Of Losing First Child, During Baby Loss Awareness Week

A Bournemouth woman devastated by the death of her newborn daughter is calling for lessons to be learned after a hospital Trust admitted a three-hour delay in delivering her baby.

Sener Goodrum, 38, was 39 weeks pregnant when she phoned The Royal Bournemouth Hospital maternity unit at around 1am on 18 January 2020, reporting bleeding.  No referral was made and she was advised to call Poole Hospital herself.

She subsequently contacted Poole Hospital, who advised her to take paracetamol and a warm bath.

Mum-to-be attended hospital with concerns

The bleeding continued and Sener attended hospital for assessment at 3am.  She reported reduced foetal movements but no reference was made to the blood loss she had experienced at home.  Monitoring of the baby’s heart rate was commenced and around 15 minutes later, the baby’s heart rate was discovered to be decelerating.

This continued and Sener was reviewed by an obstetrician at around 4.30am and a plan was made to carry out a category two C-section which is usually carried out within 75 minutes. However, the C-section wasn’t commenced until around 7.30am.

Amelia was born in a poor condition.  She was pale and floppy and meconium – a thick, sticky liquid – had to be removed from her mouth.  She also required ventilation.

She was transferred to the neonatal unit, but sadly died in Sener’s arms eight hours later.

A post mortem examination report stated there was evidence of the presence of significant meconium in Amelia’s lungs.

Medical Negligence lawyers instructed to investigate

Following their baby’s death, Sener and her husband Craig Goodrum instructed medical negligence experts at Irwin Mitchell to investigate mum and baby’s care under the then Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

Through NHS Resolution, the Trust – which is now known as University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust following a merger with The Royal Bournemouth Hospital - has now admitted a breach of duty. It accepted that Sener “should have been asked to attend the hospital by The Royal Bournemouth Hospital” due to her report of bleeding.

In addition, there was “a failure at Poole” to recognise the baby’s abnormal heart rate sooner and deliver her by C-section more than three hours earlier.  It further admitted that this “would have resulted in the safe delivery of baby Amelia and her passing avoided.”

The parties are now working together to reach a settlement for the family.  Sener is also joining with her legal team in sharing her story as part of Baby Loss Awareness Week which runs from 9 to 15 October.

Irwin Mitchell represents hundreds of families affected by issues in maternity care. This includes the Shrewsbury and Telford hospitals scandal where the Ockenden review is investigating more than 1,800 incidents of maternity deaths as well as injuries to babies and mums.

Expert Opinion

“It’s less than 21 months since Amelia’s death and what happened is all still so raw for Sener and Craig. They were both really looking forward to becoming parents and continue to struggle to accept what’s happened.

Through our work, we sadly come across many families dealing with the heartbreak of losing a loved one, and to lose a baby is a truly traumatic experience.

While we can’t do anything to bring Amelia back, we welcome the Trust’s admission. We’re continuing to support Sener, Craig and their family as they continue to come to terms with their loss as best they can.

Every second counts when delivering babies in distress and it’s vital that lessons are learned so other families don’t have to face the devastating consequences Sener and Craig have. Baby Loss Awareness Week seemed a fitting opportunity for the couple to share their tragic story.”
Alice Fitzgerald Miller - Solicitor

Baby Loss Awareness Week: Sener's story

Sener said: “Losing Amelia so tragically will be something we’ll never get over.  Throughout my pregnancy, we were so excited and couldn’t wait to meet our baby girl.

“When I started bleeding I knew something wasn’t right.

“We were so relieved when Amelia was finally delivered, but it was heartbreaking to see the state she was in.  She couldn’t breathe properly and she had hardly any colour about her.

“Losing her just a few hours later was absolutely devastating.  To know that we’ll never see her grow up or mark all the milestones other families get to is truly unbearable.

“We would give anything to turn back the clock and change what happened, but that’s not possible.  All we hope now is that lessons are learned so others don’t have to go through what we have.”

Find out more about Irwin Mitchell's expertise in handling medical negligence cases