Mum 'not given chance to be heard' before baby's death

A woman who initially blamed herself for her newborn girl's death before a hospital admitted failings in their care has said she "wasn't given a chance to make her voice heard".

An inquest found delays to an emergency caesarean contributed to the death of Ayla Newton in February 2023 at Blackpool Victoria Hospital after complications during her mum Shannon Lord's labour.

She said had she been told by doctors about the problems with her labour she would have pushed to have the procedure earlier.

The 27-year-old spoke after the release of a damning report into maternity services across England found too many women had not been "listened to, heard or believed".

Families have call for a full public inquiry into England's NHS maternity system after the report by Baroness Valerie Amos found it was "not fit for the now and not fit for the future".

It found there was an unwillingness across the country to listen to women and families, leading to poor outcomes and a lack of a consistent standard of care.

Shannon said she and the baby's father Dayle Newton, were not informed that anything was wrong and only realised there was a problem when her baby was born not breathing on 26 January.

Abnormal readings from Ayla were spotted through a monitor but a decision over the Caesarean was not made until hours later.

The inquest held in April 2025 found the delays to the c-section "materially contributed" to the baby's death 13 days after she was born.

She had to be resuscitated and was then transferred to a hospital Preston before she later died on 8 February.

In a statement, Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: "This was a tragic and distressing case and our thoughts remain with Ayla's family.

"We apologise again that our care fell below the standards Ayla and her mother deserved."

The trust said "considerable work" had been carried out to improve care since 2023, and that the findings of Baroness Amos's recent report were being taken seriously.

A few days prior to Ayla's inquest in April 2025, Shannon said the hospital admitted liability.

She said had she been given more information about what was going on she would have "pushed and pushed" for the c-section to take place sooner.

Shannon said there needs to be changes and lessons learned and there should "absolutely" be communication with mothers in similar situations.

"They should be made aware of what's happening so that they have the opportunity to use their voice and to push for something to happen rather than them just waiting around."

Investigators working as part of the wider review visited Blackpool Victoria Hospital on 9 and 10 December and on 26 January.

They said families "not being listened to" was a "recurring and deeply distressing" part of their care.

Families described not only a failure to listen, but a failure to recognise they needed clear explanations of what was happening, they found.

For those who experienced harm, it was made worse when there was no clear acknowledgement or apology after things had gone wrong, the report said.

However, investigators said some families praised their care telling them they felt listened to, believed and reassured.

The hospital trust said it has worked hard to improve care for families and will now "consider the full report carefully and work with women, families, staff and partners to make sure our care is the very best it can be".

Shannon has since had another girl who was born by a planned elective section in 2024 and she chose to have her at Royal Preston Hospital.

"It was a really difficult time but I can't fault their care at all.

"They were amazing with me."

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