Grieving mum devastated at death of baby at King's Mill

Grieving couple, Aga and Jay West tell of their ordeal at King's Mill Hospital.

Mum Aga West said she has felt ‘empty’ ever since her baby, Nicole, died in the operating theatre after a 20-hour ordeal.

The 31-year-old was rushed to King’s Mill hospital on November 21 to give birth in an early induced labour which ended in misery.

She said: “It’s hard not knowing why I don’t have my daughter with me. Each day feels empty. I’m struggling to get though the days.

The pair were able to spend a few days with their baby after it died in the operating theatre, and now have only one photo to remember her by.

“If I see a mum with a baby in the street I break down and wonder why that’s not me. She should be with us.”

“I believe the hospital’s failure to act correctly ultimately caused my baby’s death. The people I was meant to trust let us down.

“The whole thing felt rushed and like I wasn’t important.”

Aga, originally from Poland, has lived in the UK for 11 years and married husband Jay West in May last year. The couple also have a a two-year-old son called Jacob.

Aga and Jay hoped to call their baby girl Nicole.

Jay, 43, a warehouse manager, said: “They allowed us to stay with her for three days. It’s tragic in a way, but we shared a room with our daughter after we had lost her and It gave us some time to spend with her, even though she wasn’t really with us.”

“I’m devastated – the frustration and anger is phenomenal. The bottom falls out of your life. You go into a hospital expecting professionals to take care of you and then to come home with a bundle of joy and happiness.

“We went home with nothing – not even information as to what went wrong.”

Doctors made U-turns over C-sections

After hours of U-turns by midwives in whether she needed a C-Section, and waiting as other pregnant mothers jumped ahead of her in the queue, devastated mum Aga said doctors ignored warning signs and tried to continue with a natural birth. Eventually, 20 hours into labour she was taken to surgery but tragically her baby didn’t survive.

Her husband Jay said: “We want to know why they delayed a C-section by four hours and allowed the natural progress to continue in Aga’s condition. What went wrong on the day to allow our baby to die during birth, and why were we rushed into this situation so quickly?”

An investigation has been launched by King’s Mill.

Sherwood Forest Hospitals Head of Midwifery, Alison Whitham, said: “We would like to say how sorry we are to Agnieszka and Jay West about the death of their baby.

“We are in regular contact with the Wests to keep them informed of the investigation’s progress and this will continue as we look into the sequence of events and clinical decisions made in this very sad case.

“We will share the results of our investigation more widely once it has been completed.”