The key facts

  • Danielle Brown was wrongly discharged from hospital twice in February 2023; her daughter Maisie was stillborn
  • Danielle Brown was mistakenly discharged from hospital twice in February 2023; her daughter Maisie was stillborn
  • The trust admitted that care 'fell below the standards expected' and reported improvements following a 2023 review
  • The Trust admitted that care 'fell below standards' and reported improvements following a 2023 review
  • A lawyer argues that had she been kept in hospital, the baby would have been born alive

Discharged twice, having lost her daughter

Danielle Brown, 31, from North Tyneside, was seven months pregnant when she woke up in February 2023 with swelling in her face, hands and feet — potential signs of pre-eclampsia, a condition that can threaten the life of both mother and baby. At Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital in Cramlington, the fetus was found to have heartbeat problems, and the woman was transferred by ambulance to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle for an emergency caesarean section. However, the operation was not performed: Brown was placed in a ward, and the next day another doctor discharged her home. This is reported by BBC News in the first public account by the woman herself.

'Book an appointment for Friday'

Within a day, Brown felt unwell again and called the maternity unit, where, she says, staff suggested a stomach infection, but she insisted on being examined. During the ultrasound, the screen was turned away and there was no sound: doctors could not find the baby's heartbeat and told her the baby had died. Instead of the expected delivery, the woman was given a phone number and sent home with the suggestion to 'call on Friday morning and book an appointment to come in and give birth'. Two days later, after ten hours of labour, Brown gave birth to a stillborn daughter, whom the couple named Maisie. Her partner Anthony Miller, 34, described those days as 'awful': 'Lying in bed, holding that belly, still feeling Maisie, but knowing she was no longer alive'.

Acknowledgement of errors and the system's response

Newcastle Hospitals NHS Trust fully acknowledged that 'aspects of the care provided fell below the standards expected' and offered its 'sincere apologies'. The trust's director of nursing and midwifery, Ian Joy, said that after a detailed review in 2023 the trust had improved the urgent assessment of women attending maternity services with unexpected symptoms and introduced faster escalation procedures when concerns arise. An NHS England spokesperson called the failings in care 'unacceptable' and stressed that any family who loses a baby should receive support from a specialist bereavement midwifery team. Lawyer Faisal Ali of the firm Irwin Mitchell said the trust had acknowledged that the discharges on 14 and 15 February 2023 were a mistake, and that if Brown had remained in hospital, monitoring would have shown the need to expedite delivery and 'Maisie would have been born alive'.

A request for a different way out of the hospital

After saying goodbye to their daughter, the couple faced a new trauma: in order to leave the hospital, they had to walk past other parents carrying their babies. 'All the new mums were leaving, carrying their babies. That will stay with me forever,' Brown said. The couple, who now have tattoos of Maisie's handprint and footprint, are calling on every hospital in the UK to arrange a separate exit route for parents who have lost a baby. BBC notes that this is not an isolated case in its coverage of the issue: the outlet has previously published stories of women sent home from hospitals before their baby's death, as well as material on pre-eclampsia.

A black tattoo of Maisie's footprint (on the left) and handprint (on the right) on an arm. The prints are very small and the skin around them looks a little red and sore. A black line suggestive of another tattoo is on the arm just above the hand print.Image source, Danielle Brown
Image caption,

Anthony and Danielle now have tattoos of Maisie's hand and footprint

Anthony has his arm around Danielle and leaning over to kiss her forehead. He is wearing a grey hooded top, and has brown hair. Danielle is laughing and has her eyes closed. With both hands, she is tightly holding an opened gender reveal confetti cannon. She is wearing a white and light-purple long-sleeved checkered shirt.Image source, Danielle Brown
Image caption,

Anthony and Danielle were overjoyed to learn they were having a girl

A black and white ultrasound scan image of Maisie in the womb at 16 weeks. Her head and body and some features can just be made out amid the usual white and purple-black blur of this sort of scan.Image source, Danielle Brown
Image caption,

Maisie had a normal scan at 16 weeks

A black and white image of a tiny baby's hand resting in the much bigger palm of her father's hand. His hand is resting on a soft white or pale-coloured blanket.Image source, Danielle Brown
Image caption,

Danielle and her partner Anthony named their baby Maisie

Danielle Brown and Anthony Miller with their heads together as if posing for a selfie. Danielle on the left has straight blonde hair and gold hoop earrings and is smiling broadly. Anthony has short grey hair and has a slight smile.Image source, Danielle Brown
Image caption,

Danielle Brown and Anthony Miller had been looking forward to the birth of their baby girl

Archie and Issy Sylvester stand in a hospital room smiling at the camera. The mother has her young baby in her arms. He is wrapped in a blanket with a white hat on and has some tubes stuck to his face. The couple are smartly dressed, with the man in a white shirt and suit jacket while the woman is dressed in white.Jane with familyThe head and neck of a woman with dark hair tied high, with loose strands on each side of her face. A pink sleeveless top she is wearing can just be seen, and she has silver hoop earrings with a heart-shaped charm. She is in a room with a white wall and blue geometric-print wallpaper.