Poor care during birth prevented new mother enjoying first months with her baby

What happened

Mrs F gave birth to her son in a birth pool in summer 2013. Clinical staff gave her an injection to speed up the delivery of the placenta and reduce the risk of heavy bleeding. Mrs F and her husband, who was present at the time, both recalled that the injection was given through the water in the birth pool before she was helped out of the pool.

Several weeks later Mrs F developed an abscess in her left buttock in the area she was injected. This caused her significant pain and impaired her quality of life and her ability to carry out normal activities with her newborn child. Mrs F was initially given antibiotics by her GP but had to undergo a procedure to treat the abscess. The subsequent wound took many weeks to heal.

What we found

Trust staff should have given Mrs F the injection under sterile conditions in order to prevent infection. Administering an injection through the unsterile water in a birth pool, as Mrs F and her husband recalled happened, would have contaminated the sterile needle before it pierced the skin. There was no information in the records about how Mrs F was given the injection or what position she was in at the time but the records confirmed that she was still in the pool when she had the injection.

There was a lack of detail in Mrs F's medical records, but she and her husband provided recollections that the injection was given through the birth pool water in the area where the abscess later developed. Taking this into account, it was more likely than not that Mrs F had the injection in the contaminated water and developed an abscess as a result.

This was not in line with established good practice and was therefore a failing.

Mrs F suffered unnecessary pain for around six months as a result of the abscess. It took some time for the abscess to be identified and after the procedure to treat it, the wound took a long time to heal. Mrs F had to make around 30 visits to a clinic for repacking and redressing of the wound, and these were painful and inconvenient, and expensive. During this time, Mrs F experienced a considerable amount of pain and discomfort, which prevented her from sleeping. She was also unable to enjoy normal activities with her baby son, such as walking with him in a pram, lifting him or swimming.

Mrs F had intended to return to work in early 2014 after her maternity leave. However, as her wound was still healing from the incision and drain procedure, she was unable to return to work until later in the year. So she also lost two months of earnings.

Putting it right

We were reassured that the Trust had already acknowledged the failings in Mrs F's care and had apologised for the distress this had caused. The Trust had also taken appropriate action to prevent other patients having a similar experience by making procedural changes and updating its policy.

However, the Trust should have also offered Mrs F a financial remedy. This would have recognised the pain and discomfort she suffered, her lost opportunity to enjoy normal activities with her baby son, the inconvenience and expenses she incurred attending treatment for her abscess and two months of lost earnings.

The Trust paid £2,000 compensation and £2,178 for lost earnings.