Vaishali Bamania : “High-risk pregnancy tragedy: Baby dies 14 mins post-birth”

Content warning: This article contains references to infant mortality, pregnancy complications and surgery

After a challenging three-year journey of trying to conceive following cancer treatment, Vaishali Bamania and her husband Rahul were overjoyed to discover they were expecting their first child, a baby girl.

The 39-year-old from Preston, Lancashire, who had longed to experience motherhood, described the moment she saw the two lines on a pregnancy test after undergoing IVF as a dream come true. This positive news made her one-and-a-half years of cancer treatment feel “worth it”.

However, the joy was short-lived as baby Jaya was born prematurely at just 22 weeks on 19th August, 2019, and tragically passed away a mere 14 minutes later.

Reflecting on the devastating experience, Ms Bamania shared, “It was such a blur. I didn’t really have time to process. I think I was in shock.”

Joining forces with other grieving parents and advocates, Ms Bamania is urging the next government to address the racial disparities in baby loss as a top priority. Working alongside the baby loss charity Sands, she has penned an open letter calling for urgent action to prevent black and Asian baby deaths.

Statistics from the Office for National Statistics reveal that black and Asian infants in the UK continue to have higher mortality rates compared to white families. In 2022, the mortality rate for Asian infants was 5.7 per 1,000 live births, while for black infants it was 6.8 per 1,000 live births, up from 4.8 and 6.6 respectively in 2021. In contrast, white families reported a rate of 3.1 deaths per 1,000 live births.

Ms Bamania was identified as high-risk early in her pregnancy but claims that hospital staff failed to adequately explain the reasons behind it, resulting in a lack of additional care such as extra scans and tests.

Communication Breakdown Leads to Tragic Consequences

Ms Bamania’s ordeal was further compounded by a communication error between her clinic and midwifery team, which meant she missed out on a crucial 20-week scan. At almost 22 weeks, she noticed amniotic fluid leakage but was advised by a midwife over the phone to monitor the situation without further intervention.

Trusting the medical advice, Ms Bamania continued with her plans, only to develop a high fever while abroad, prompting her return home for urgent medical attention. It was then revealed that she had a serious infection, insufficient amniotic fluid around the baby, and unfortunately, there was nothing more that could be done to save Jaya.

Expressing her frustration, Ms Bamania said, “I had explained that I was a high-risk pregnancy. I would have gone to the hospital the first time I noticed leaking, and it’s highly likely, if not 100 per cent probable, they would have caught the infection that I didn’t realize was starting at that point.”

Although there is no concrete evidence that earlier intervention would have changed the outcome, Ms Bamania believes that closer monitoring could have made a difference. She highlighted the lack of accountability and apology from the hospital for the breakdown in communication.

Advocating for Change and Accountability

Subsequent health complications post-Jaya’s birth necessitated surgery for Ms Bamania, rendering her unable to carry to term again. She is now speaking out to prevent other families from enduring the same heartache and loss.

Reflecting on the ongoing pain, she shared, “Not a day goes by that you don’t feel bad and feel that loss and that gap in your life, because your child should be there.”

Minister for women’s health, Maria Caulfield, emphasized that improving maternity safety is a top priority for the Conservatives. The party has outlined bold actions to address disparities in maternity care through the Women’s Health Strategy, the launch of a Maternity Disparities Taskforce, and a £50 million research fund to tackle inequalities faced by ethnic minority women and those in deprived areas.

On the opposing front, the Labour Party has pledged to tackle health inequalities if elected, with a specific commitment to end the black maternal mortality gap. However, neither major party has outlined explicit plans to tackle racial disparities in baby loss.

A spokesperson for the charity Sands stressed the crucial need for the next government to address ethnicity-related inequalities in baby loss, calling for decisive action to be taken.

The Coalition of Children’s Charities has echoed the sentiment, highlighting the urgent need for political leaders to combat the decline in life chances for children living in poverty. They advocate for measures such as scrapping the two-child limit to benefit payments and investing in early intervention services to alleviate poverty and improve health outcomes for children.

An NHS spokesperson reiterated the commitment to providing high-quality care to all pregnant women, regardless of ethnicity, with a focus on addressing inequalities through targeted action and enhanced support for women in deprived areas.