'Delay cost our baby's life'

Tragic: Rachel and Andrew Canter lost their baby after being turned away by an overcrowded maternity unit

12 April 2012

A couple lost their baby after being turned away by a maternity unit that was too full to deliver their child.

Rachel and Andrew Canter won an out-of-court settlement for the events leading to the death of baby Jake last October. They used the money to set up a foundation in his memory to help other expectant parents.

The couple, from Welwyn Garden City, have since had a daughter, Ruby.

Jake, their first child, was born dead after complications during labour led to Mrs Canter, 35, being transferred from a birthing centre in Edgware. But because the nearest maternity ward at Barnet Hospital was too busy to admit them, they had to travel nearly 15 miles to Chase Farm in Enfield.

There, they were taken to the delivery room rather than an operating theatre. Mrs Canter's drip came out and medics monitored her heartbeat rather than the baby's.

Mr Canter, 40, said: "The trust admitted liability and has now introduced nine different protocols."

Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust said Barnet's maternity unit shut on that day as it was not designed for the number of women giving birth.