Bedford mum hopes tragedy of stillborn baby leads to lessons learned

Devastated Gaby Mynett, 21, lost baby Isabella at Bedford Hospital, and is so keen to help other mums avoid the same pain that she’s studying to become a midwife.

The 21-year-old finally feels strong enough to speak out about her experience to help promote Baby Loss Awareness Week, which is running until Sunday.

Gaby attended Bedford Hospital on several occasions after scans showed fetal growth had slowed, and she was sent home twice by the consultant without examination.

But tragically on October 27, she was told an ultrasound scan couldn’t find a heartbeat.

An independent review concluded that professionals failed to intervene on several occasions , and an induction could have saved her life.

Gaby told the T&C:”My original feeling was anger. It felt like someone had murdered my baby, even though I knew they hadn’t. Now I try not to be angry, because I wanted to stop associating Isabella with anger.

“But it has had a profound effect on me. I visited her in the cemetery every day at first so she wouldn’t be alone.”

Gaby and her partner Matt instructed medical negligence lawyers Irwin Mitchell to help them gain answers and justice from Bedford Hospital NHS Trust over the death. The Trust has since admitted liability and apologised.

And Gaby, who has now enrolled on a three-year midwifery course at Anglia Ruskin, said: “Apparently the hospital has learned a lot.

“Matt and I feel blessed to have George and Joshua, but watching them grow has been made harder through knowing that Isabella never got the opportunity to do that.”

A spokesman for Bedford Hospital NHS Trust said: “We would like to again extend our sincere apologies and deepest sympathies to the family.

“We have implemented a number of actions to prevent the concerns raised in this case from happening again, and will continue to strive to provide the highest standard of care to pregnant mothers.”

And Gaby added: “We are still coming to terms with losing Isabella but I hope that if any good can come from our loss, it will be that lessons will be learned and that I can help other families and ensure the safe delivery of their children.

“Barely a day goes by when I do not think of Isabella, but Baby Loss Awareness Week is an important time for bereaved families to celebrate their children’s lives.

“We hope more can be done to improve care standards so other families do not face the nightmare we had.”