New Jessops Wing Hospital experiences? -

alandrea0 · 24-09-2009, 15:05

We thought that the new Jessops Wing was one of the best neonatal hospitals in the UK, but how wrong we were.
Our daughter gave birth to a beautiful baby girl on the 31st Aug 2009, 8 days later the baby died!
Early indications show the baby died of a common Strep B infection, which is treatable and preventable!!!!
But unfortunately the care provided by some nurses and Doctors was not good!
It just goes to show, it doesn't matter how many millions of pounds the NHS spend on the best possible life saving equipment, if the Doctors and nurses are not very good, parents not aware of this condition, then babies will die!!!!

I'm raising awareness and funds for the Group Strep B Support charity
http://www.gbss.org.uk/fundraiser/in...Poetry4charity

mary70 · 24-09-2009, 15:27

i am so sorry for you loss but my daughter was born a month early,at the jessop wing by induction due to pre eclampsia and the staff were fantastic cant fault one doctor or nurse that cared for both of us.

Miss_S_83 · 24-09-2009, 15:33

Aww I am so very sorry for your loss, that is truley awful and I would not wish that on any parent or granparent.

The two times I have been in Jessops having my daughters I can't fault them really, and it has been clean etc.

Is the Strep B thing something which can be tested for before birth? Sorry I don't know much only that other pregnant women used to talk about Strep B.

I hope your little Grandaughter rests in peace, once again, I am very sorry for your loss. xxxxxxxxx

mary70 · 24-09-2009, 15:40

it is an infection that is carried by a 3rd of the popultion and is carried by 1/4 of all women of child baring age and can be passed onto the baby during birth, it is not tested for on the nhs but i think can be paid and tested for privately, there has been alot of publicity about it on and off but nhs has never offered the test for some reason.

mh01 · 24-09-2009, 15:42

my sister gave birth to a girl 3 months premature after 3 weeks my sister was allowed home but my niece was kept in for several more weeks. Anyway 1 day my sister went to see her daughter & the ward sister came running over & said we need to speak to you urgently. They take her into an office & said "were ever so sorry but we fed your daughter someone elses breastmilk" (my sister was leaving her breastmilk daily). Obviously my sister was hysterical,her daughter was subjected to countless hospital tests & its now in the hands of solicitors. If only the nurse in question had bothered to read the name on the bottled milk

bizzle · 24-09-2009, 15:42

Hi Alanrea0, I am sorry to hear about what a tragic experience your daughter must have gone through & just wanted to express my condolences on the loss of your grandaughter RIP

I do agree with you about the care & wellbeing at the Jessop Wing. A few of my friends have given birth at this hospital over the past few months & the treatment they have recieved their has been awful & not caring at all & I think it it comes down to their attitude. Why be in a profession if you have no care or compassion. A friend of mine gave birth a few weeks ago to her first born & what should have been a good experience for her turned into a knightmare because of the attitude she was getting from the midwife & when my friend started getting emotional the midwife told her to get a grip & snap out of it.

I do not think all of the staff have this uncaring nature it is the ones that who have make it harder for everyone else. Do you know who your daughters consultant was? Mr Fraser who is based there. Many of my friends who have given birth in the past & recently present & have had him as their consultant really rate him. They all have positive things to say about him & regard him as the father christmas of the hospital.

Tomataheeed · 24-09-2009, 15:43

My other half was diagnosed with Strep B during pregnancy for our first in2007 , the docs were very aware of it at the birth as that is the time the baby is most likely to be infected.

I do seem to remember that it isn't routinely checked during pregnancy though, even though its quite common, which I think is wrong...its a cheap test and its a common infection.

CHEZZFAYE · 24-09-2009, 16:17

im really sorry to hear that allan my sisters got that and 3 wk of giving birth was your daughter early as the strep b test is now standard at 38 wk. n they are not as good as the old jessops i gave birth at new jessops 7 months ago and to say the standard of care was bad is pushing it. i got the strep b test by the night shift and was sent home for some reason they decided i was gona b 72 hrs at least....

i went bk early hrs of morning had to demand morphine for the pain as they were still adimant i was going to be 72 hrs so i could not have an epi or the peth they then left me alone at half 6 by the time they came bk to check on me it was half 9 n to late for any pain relief as my son was 10 cm i had to gve birth with nothing at 20 past 10.

i went on the ward at 12 and from then on me and my son did not see a dr untill half 9 at night when i said i was going home. they let me go home with a baby that had not done anything in his nappy had only had 2 oz of milk and had jaundice (which they didnot even notice) when my mum turnd up and asked y i had not been given any pain relief she was told i hadnt asked and its all i did when i got there

Bethsmummy · 24-09-2009, 16:26

So sorry for you all, Its still so raw for you, But I have long wanted to get involved in the group B strep campaign. I went into labour in 2002 at 24 weeks at jessops, I know this is going to sound naive but during the labour I was never told the my baby might die, I was given all this hope about what to expecect and what kind of procedures might be occuring after delivery.

A neonatel nurse and a peadiatrician came to vist me whilst I was in labour and all the way through I was told that my daughter would be whisked away pretty much straight away and had a reasonable chance. I was even told of examples where babies as young as 23 weeks had lived.

However an hour before she finally arrived a test discovered I had group B strep (I'd been in labour 12 hours by then) They gave me the drugs to prevent her catching it but, knowing what I know now it was already too late.

An hour later she was born and all though a feeble effort was made to rescusitate her, It was pretty much over before it had begun.

I think once they discovered that I had group b strep and had been in labour so long they knew it wasn't worth attempting to give her life because she wouldv'e been too weak being prem to fight the infection. Although they made the excuse that her lungs were to underdeveloped.

Lauren was given to us to hold, and her heart stopped beating 2 hours later and despite the excuse they made to us, lauren was drawing breaths the whole time.

The only thing I have to be thankful of was that little less than a year later when I was in labour with my second daughter, they knew of the strp and could treat it accordingly

It still beggers belief that this is not tested for routinely in pregnancy as it is such an inexpensive test and could save so many lives

Tomataheeed · 24-09-2009, 16:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by mh01

my sister gave birth to a girl 3 months premature after 3 weeks my sister was allowed home but my niece was kept in for several more weeks. Anyway 1 day my sister went to see her daughter & the ward sister came running over & said we need to speak to you urgently. They take her into an office & said "were ever so sorry but we fed your daughter someone elses breastmilk" (my sister was leaving her breastmilk daily). Obviously my sister was hysterical,her daughter was subjected to countless hospital tests & its now in the hands of solicitors. If only the nurse in question had bothered to read the name on the bottled milk

This obviously should not have happened, but its probably not detrimental. It wasn't uncommon 30-40 years ago to ask mothers to donate breast milk to give to other babies who's mothers couldn't feed them for one reason or another.

mh01 · 24-09-2009, 16:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tomataheeed

This obviously should not have happened, but its probably not detrimental. It wasn't uncommon 30-40 years ago to ask mothers to donate breast milk to give to other babies who's mothers couldn't feed them for one reason or another.

yeah but this was in the premature intensive care unit of all places where there is suppose to be very strict procedures

CHEZZFAYE · 24-09-2009, 16:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tomataheeed

This obviously should not have happened, but its probably not detrimental. It wasn't uncommon 30-40 years ago to ask mothers to donate breast milk to give to other babies who's mothers couldn't feed them for one reason or another.

sorry to mention this but what if the other mum hav hiv/ aids or any number of other diseases that could have been passed on to this child

mary70 · 24-09-2009, 16:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by CHEZZFAYE

sorry to mention this but what if the other mum hav hiv/ aids or any number of other diseases that could have been passed on to this child

it is disgusting that this happened but very unlikely that the other mother had hiv as this IS tested for on every pregnant mother now and if the test is refused the mother is treated as though she is infected

alandrea0 · 24-09-2009, 16:58

My daughter was tested for strep b during labour and was found to be carrying the bacteria. Therefore at high risk of passing it onto her baby.
My daughter was only given antibiotics for two days and the baby for two and half days. Not long enough!!!!!!
Even though the baby was showing all the symptoms of a strep b infection, NONE of the doctors recognised it! or do enough tests to confirm an infection.
Nurses were concerned! But doctors wouldn't listen to the nurses!
One nurse has told my daughter to complain! Because the neglect and incompetence has happened before and it will happen again.
One nurse gave my daughters baby cow and gate milk without her permission.
On arrival at the hospital, One nurse said they were not giving my daughter steroids to slow the labour and to improve the babys lungs because it was too expensive.
These are just a few of the problems my daughter had to endure during her stay at the hospital.
Warning to all pregnant women!
If you are tested positive for Strep B, make sure you know what symptoms to look for in your new baby! If you think your baby has strep B infection don't let Doctors fob you off with the pathetic excuse, you're babies alright! It's nothing to worry about! It can kill! or leave your baby with a severe disability.
Make sure they do every available test for it!
Make sure you and your baby get the right amount of antibiotics.
Ask for your baby to be kept in special care for at least 14 days.

Tomataheeed · 24-09-2009, 16:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by mh01

yeah but this was in the premature intensive care unit of all places where there is suppose to be very strict procedures

Yes agreed - my 11 year old was prem, and spent her first 3 months of life in intensive care. Its is a very worrying time, and I didn't ever believe things would work out, but thankfully they did.

isaacsmum · 24-09-2009, 17:01

I am so sorry to hear of your devastating loss , I had my little boy almost 2 months early due to pre eclampsia , I spent time in both high dependency and transitional wards for a month over the christmas period.I found the staff utterly amazing and supportive but incredibly overstretched as a nurse in another area of the NHS I know how challenging it can be but I have NEVER seen a bunch of staff more dedicated under sometimes the most trying of conditions .This is where money needs to be spent , supporting training and retaining dedicated staff .

Tomataheeed · 24-09-2009, 17:05

One thing I have learnt with my dealings with hopsital staff is the need to challenge doctors, consultants, nurses...everyone. Its not to be awkward, its just that they are very convincing, very persuasive and very controlling.

I had to almost phyisically restraint a nurse who was about to give my 3 month prem daughter an overdose, because she couldn't do basic maths. She was calculating the dose with weight etc..This confrontation happened whilst my daughter was not breathing. I was right with the maths.

This didn't happen at Jessups by the way.

Mathom · 24-09-2009, 17:26

I was tested and found to be carrying Strep B - I do know that Jessops is one of a bare handful of maternity wards in the UK which does this test as routine. At almost every other maternity ward you would not be offered the test at all.

However, if you are already well in labour then the usual methods of dealing with the infection aren't necessarily going to work - you normally need to receive antibiotics intravenously. This was easy for me as I was having an induction (and eventually a section), but if you go into premature labour then there isn't a lot they can do except treat baby afterwards. That's the sad thing about Strep B when it infects a mum who has gone into labour early.

My child had to stay in for several days to receive the antibiotics intravenously himself from SCBU, as a prophylactic, and the paediatrician discussed this with us, telling us why it was important and what we had to look out for afterwards. This was as there is a small risk of the infection presenting at a later stage, but a greatly reduced one.

Bethsmummy · 24-09-2009, 17:35

We were asked if they could perform a post mortem on Lauren and we were told it would provide a lot of answers. on that basis we very reluctantly agreed.

I will not go into the horrendous blunder that they made on that one but there was stages afterwards where I thought we would never get over it.

when we went for the results which we had awaited eagerly.....
nothing.

Rainsy · 24-09-2009, 17:52

im so sorry about your loss. i had my little boy at jessops last november and didnt have a very good experience.
I was 4 days over due and didnt think i could feel him moving so my midwife sent me straight to jessops where they kept me in for monitoring the first night i was in 1 nurse told me my baby had cord compression and i asked her what does this mean, she said the umbilical cord was wrapped asround his neck and was stopping him breathing so they would PROBABLY induce me. that was the last i heard about that, they put me on a ward and i didnt see anyone till morning. The next day they monitored the babys heartbeat all day and at tea time took me down to the labout ward and gave me something to induce me and then sent me back up to the ward where they said my contractions would start at some point in the night.
At about 1am a female doctor came and woke me up and gave me a very painful internal exam where she said i was fully dialated and would be going back down to the labour ward asap. the next thing i know its 7.30 am and i was being asked what i want for breakfast! i asked why i wasnt taken down and a nurse said what are you on about?! i told her i thought i was fully dialated and a doctor had examined me and the nurse had the cheek to say to me in a very patronising way "are u sure u didnt dream it love???" i couldnt believe it.
then when i was FINALLY taken down and examined i wasnt dialated at all but my baby was indistress because of the cord and i had to have an emergancy c-section. my baby was born using forceps (which bruised my sons face an awful lot)
24 hours after being born my son was rushed down to the special care unit because he had had a stroke. he was in special care for 2 weeks where the staff were fantastic but not very organised. the doctors didnt communicate with one another at all. one doctor came down and told us they upping my sons medication then another came and had a go at one of the staff nurses because she was giving him too much medication although the other doctor had told them to up it?! they then discharged my son even though we were not happy that he was well enough to come home but one nurse made a passing comment that they needed the beds that was why he was being discharged. we brought our son home and 2 days later we were at the childrens hospital and he stayed in there for a month.
fortunatly he is doing very well now but i cant help but think that if they had acted quicker before i gave birth and communicated a bit more throughout then i wouldnt be writing this!
i am hearing more and more horror stories about jessops.