Danielle Brown, 31, from North Tyneside, was sent home from Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary still carrying her baby after doctors discovered the child had died in February 2023. She was told to call on Friday morning to book a delivery appointment.
Brown had returned to the maternity unit after being wrongly discharged despite having pre-eclampsia, a life-threatening condition. When scanned after insisting on being seen again, doctors found no heartbeat. Instead of admitting her for delivery, staff gave her a phone number and discharged her. She gave birth two days later after 10 hours of labour.
The Newcastle Hospitals NHS Trust acknowledged in a statement that "aspects of the care we provided fell short" and offered a "heartfelt apology". An NHS England spokesperson called the failings "unacceptable" and said they "should never have happened".
Faisal Ali, legal executive at Irwin Mitchell, said had Brown remained hospitalized on February 14 or 15, 2023, "monitoring would have shown the need to speed up delivery and Maisie would have been born alive".
Brown and her partner Anthony Miller named their daughter Maisie. The couple now have matching tattoos of her hand and footprint. Brown said no mother should be sent home carrying a baby who has died and called for hospitals to provide alternative exit routes for grieving parents so they do not pass mothers leaving with living babies.