Grieving parents say they want to create a “stampede of change” in maternity and neonatal care after their concerns for their unborn son’s welfare were ignored.

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

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.

Kristina asked to be admitted to the hospital as she was concerned and wanted reassurance but was told it was a normal show and to stay home.

Two days later, she could not feel her baby moving despite trying methods to encourage it so she and her husband Lee, 34, rang the helpline again and were told to attend the Maternity Care Unit, in Windmill Road, immediately.

It was then that midwives discovered their 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.

Speaking to KentOnline previously, Kristina, 34, said: “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.

“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.

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

An internal investigation was launched by the Medway NHS Foundation Trust and the report, shared with KentOnline, said the midwife did not escalate the issue because the “hospital was busy” and they did not want to “burden staff”.

Speaking earlier this year, interim chief nursing officer for the 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.”

However, the couple said they did not feel there was much support after they were discharged from the hospital and have since started a charity intending to create “a stampede of change” in maternity and neonatal care.

Theo’s Foundation looks to provide resources and access to appropriate services, continue raising public awareness of baby loss and create resources for bereavement midwives and professionals to improve the support available for familes.

It has also launched a petition to call for a public inquiry into maternity care across the country to demand a higher level of care.

Chairman of trustees, Kristina, said: “It is such a dark place to lose a child and to be able to access support is one of the most important things.

“You do not want to have to search online for help, you want to be told what is available and where.

“We want every single person to know where to go and how to go about getting support.

“We had no idea what we were up against and to have had that information to hand, it would have been so helpful.

“We know grief is completely different for everyone but we noticed things that were not readily available which we would have wanted.

“When Theo passed we knew things had to change and we wanted to create a stampede of change.”

The foundation also looks to help fund more cold cots, memory boxes and gowns for smaller babies for their funerals.

In particular, it hopes to fund the creation of baby memorial gardens in every town.

Kristina said it is incredibly important to her after she realised there was nowhere like that on the Isle of Sheppey.

She added: “To have that place to remember their child is important and I want to give people a chance to have that.”

Sadly, around 13 babies die shortly before, during, or soon after birth every day in the country, according to baby loss charity Sands.

National reports by the Perinatal Mortality Review Tool in 2022, suggest that up to one in five are potentially avoidable if guidelines around maternity safety were appropriately used for every pregnancy and birth.