A grieving couple say their unborn son would still be alive if they had been allowed to go to hospital when they raised concerns over his welfare.

Kristina and Lee Pepper’s baby Theo was stillborn at Medway Maritime Hospital, in Gillingham, last year after complications during pregnancy.

The hospital trust has since apologised.

The pair, who live in Sheerness Holiday Park, had a scan with a community midwife when Kristina was 36 weeks pregnant and was told everything was “perfect”.

However, the next day – October 7, 2023 – she started to lose yellow fluid and, concerned for her baby’s welfare, rang the hospital’s Call the Midwife helpline.

She informed them her baby was in a breached position and she was booked in for a caesarean the following week.

Kristina had been told hers was a high-risk pregnancy and she asked the midwife to admit her to hospital so she could feel reassured as she was a first-time mum and scared.

Instead, she said she was told the discharge was a normal show and that she should put on a pad and stay at home.

Speaking to KentOnline, Kristina, 34, said: “I was told to stop being silly. The following day the fluid had slowed right down so I thought everything was fine and she was right.

“I could still feel Theo and there were no more problems. However, I woke up the next day and I could not feel any movement.

“I started to panic but did everything I was told to do to make him kick like having a sweet drink and playing some music.”

When that did not work, Kristina and her husband Lee, 34, rang the helpline again and were told to immediately attend the Maternity Care Unit, in Windmill Road.

It was then that midwives discovered her baby no longer had a heartbeat and had died.

Kristina’s labour was induced and she delivered Theo two days later on October 11, 2023 – five days after she asked to go to the hospital.

A post-mortem report discovered that he had a small blockage in the cord which had caused a lack of oxygen.

“I was told if I had got to the hospital he would have been here, had I been allowed to go up there I would have my son here,” Kristina added.

“Following the results, I was told there was time between losing the fluid and then when I stopped feeling Theo moving to have performed an emergency C-section.

“We went to the hospital thinking we would be bringing him home but all we got was two teddies instead of our son.

“We had waited 14 years for that moment.

“If I had not listened to the professional’s advice our son would still be here today.”

The family did make a formal complaint to Medway NHS Foundation Trust via the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) and an internal investigation was launched.

The incident investigation report, shared with KentOnline, said the midwife answering the helpline had received 83 calls that day, “had not had a break” and was “preoccupied” by a previous call about a complex case when Kristrina rang.

It added the call was not logged, they did not ask for her name or access her maternity records meaning the “questions required to make an appropriate clinical assessment were not asked”.

The report also stated the midwife did not escalate the issue “because they were aware that the hospital was busy and they did not want to burden the staff on the delivery suite”.

The investigation did highlight four recommendations for the trust.

These were to distribute the report among staff for shared learning, reinforce logging of calls made on the helpline, refresher training on undertaking patient clinical history and assessment, and to look at the feasibility of a recording system for calls.

It also highlighted good areas of practice including the appropriate referral following the second call Kristina made and prompt assessment and escalation when medics could not hear Theo’s heartbeat.

In response to the findings, Kristina said: “Our main concern is this could happen to others. I feel something needs to be done.

“It is a lack of care. It scares the life out of us that more people could go through this.

“I no longer trust the NHS. I used to think they were superheroes but when I asked for help, I was refused.

“If you feel like you need to go to the hospital just go.”

Interim chief nursing officer for Medway NHS Foundation Trust, Sarah Vaux, said: “We offer our deepest condolences to Mr and Mrs Pepper for the devastating loss of their baby and we are deeply sorry for the distress they are experiencing.

“We carried out an extensive investigation to help answer the family’s questions and to identify and implement improvements to the service, and the findings were recently shared with them.

“We continue to offer Mr and Mrs Pepper our support for as long as they need it.”

Sadly, in the UK, it’s estimated that one in four pregnancies ends in the loss of a baby.

Despite that figure, it’s still something that many find difficult to talk about and families can face a wall of silence.

David Ward, co-founder and trustee of baby loss awareness charity Abigail’s Footsteps, said: “Our charity helps parents who have sadly experienced the death of their baby, by providing bereavement suites, specialist baby loss counselling for parents, bespoke bereavement training for healthcare professionals, and the Abi cooling cot, which allows Mum and Dad to spend longer with their baby.

“When we had Abigail we only had two or three hours with her, the Abi Cot allows people to have two or three days if they wish.

“Our charity strives to support local families, like Kristina and Lee, through the devastating loss of a baby. We will be reaching out to Medway Maritime Hospital to offer further funded bereavement training day for their staff.”

Abigail’s Footsteps has released a podcast speaking with families who have bravely stepped forward to tell their stories. Click here to listen.

A Journey with Abigail’s Footsteps is an IM Listening production.