The British government apologized on Wednesday March 30 after the publication of a report revealing that the deaths of 200 babies in a hospital in the North West of England could have been avoided with adequate care and no stubbornness to avoid Caesarean sections .
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“To all the families who have suffered seriously, I’m sorry“, told the deputies the British Minister of Health Sajid Javid. The report that sheds light on the magnitude of this scandal spanning two decades “makes it clear that you have been abused by a service that was there to help you and your loved ones bring life“, he added.
Commissioned in 2017 and released on Wednesday morning, the report looked at 1,592 reported incidents at Shrewsbury Hospital, involving 1,486 families mostly between 2000 and 2019. Five years on, the investigation is drawing alarming conclusions, claiming that 201 babies could have lived if the hospital had provided them with better care. Nine mothers also lost their lives due to abuse while others were forced to give birth naturally when they should have been offered a Caesarean section. The hospital “failed to investigate (incidents), learn (from mistakes), improveDonna Ockenden, who led the investigation, said Tuesday at a press conference.
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The 250-page report notably notes cases of newborns with skull fractures, broken bones and brain problems after being deprived of oxygen at the time of birth. shortcomings “significant or majorwere also observed in a quarter of the 498 cases of stillborn babies studied. In 40% of cases, no internal hospital investigation was carried out. According to the report, the maternity hospital was pushing for natural births to keep its cesarean section rate as low as possible, resorting to it only on too few occasions.
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