Birth Trauma Awareness Day

A heartbroken mum who lost her baby because medical staff failed to properly monitor her has today pledged her support for Birth Trauma Awareness Day.

Celinna Carr, age 28, from Winson Green in Birmingham lost her third child as a result of problems with her placenta. Her son, Tischaurn was sadly delivered stillborn on 20th July 2009.

Celinna believes that staff at Birmingham Women’s Hospital failed to examine her properly and did not realise the true extent of her symptoms.

She had previously been identified as a high risk patient and her pregnancy was being monitored – her first child had been born at 24 weeks and her second at 37.  However, during her third pregnancy, Celinna underwent regular scans and the baby was developing well. 

Her last scan was on 25th June and on 19th July at 35 weeks, Celinna felt she was going into labour.  She decided to wait but then the pain changed from the contractions she recognised from previous pregnancies, to a pain she describes as ripping and pulling.

She phoned the hospital to advise staff of her concerns and symptoms and was then rushed there by friends. Celinna arrived around 7:00pm and informed the midwife at the desk of her symptoms again.   

She was examined by a midwife 40 minutes later who suggested that Celinna may have a urine infection.  Celinna asked for pain relief and a scan, but was told the doctors were busy.  The midwife checked her contractions and listened to the baby’s heartbeat.  Celinna was in so much pain that the pads which were attached to her stomach to listen to her baby’s heart caused her discomfort.

It was at this point that the midwife suggested she might be suffering either a placental abruption – where the placenta becomes detached from the wall of the uterus – or alternatively the pain was caused by an old caesarean scar. 

Despite the warning signs of placental abruption, senior doctors were not called to review Celinna and so it was over an hour and a half before further monitoring was carried out. By then the obstetric staff could find neither a trace of heartbeat nor movement. Sadly Celinna’s baby son, Tischaurn was delivered stillborn.

She has now asked medical law expert, Guy Forster, from Irwin Mitchell Solicitors, to investigate whether more could have been done by the hospital to spot the true extent of her condition sooner and whether her son’s life might have been saved as a result.

Celinna explains: “I was in such agony and knew something was terribly wrong. I had gone through two previous labours but the pain was quite different this time. I am still grieving for the little boy I carried and it’s been difficult carrying on with normal life although I’ve had to be strong and keep going for the sake of my three other children.”

As a result of what happened to her, Celinna is also calling for more parents to be aware of the help available from the Birth Trauma Association.

She added: “In the months after Tischaurn’s death I felt very isolated. At the time I didn’t know about the Birth Trauma Association, but having another parent to talk to who has experienced similar emotions would have been a real life-line.”