Warning: This article contains themes and images some readers may find upsetting.
A pregnant woman whose baby had died was sent home from hospital still carrying the child and told to make an appointment later in the week to give birth.
Danielle Brown, 31, from North Tyneside, had already been wrongly discharged despite having the life-threatening condition pre-eclampsia and had returned because she was still unwell.
After insisting on returning to the maternity unit, she was finally seen and doctors discovered her baby had died. Danielle would later describe the silence, the screen turned away from her, and turning to her partner to say: “I think she’s gone.”
Being sent home with Danielle carrying the baby was “horrible”, her partner said, “lying in bed and holding that belly” knowing their baby was not alive.
The Newcastle Hospitals NHS Trust said it fully accepted “aspects of the care we provided fell short” and offered a “heartfelt apology”.
Danielle and her 34-year-old partner Anthony Miller had been delighted to learn they were having a baby girl.
“I was just over the moon, I couldn’t be happier,” Anthony said.
They decided to call their daughter Maisie.
But, seven months into her pregnancy in February 2023, Danielle woke up feeling unwell. Her face was swollen, as were her hands and feet – all potential signs of pre-eclampsia, external, which can be life threatening to both mother and baby.