NHS trust which runs West Suffolk Hospital, in Bury St Edmunds, admits providing sub-standard care to mum of baby who died during pregnancy.

A couple from Sudbury said they feel ‘so badly let down’ by a hospital trust following the death of their baby daughter.

West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (WSFT) admitted providing sub-standard care to Laura Pryke, the mum of baby Matilda, who died during pregnancy in 2022.

The trust which runs West Suffolk Hospital, where Matilda was born, apologised for the shortcomings in the care it provided and said a full safety review of the maternity department had been carried out.

Alongside her husband Ryan, Laura believes they placed ‘too much trust’ in the midwives at the hospital, in Bury St Edmunds.

The couple said they were reassured everything was fine despite raising concerns.

“We feel so badly let down,” said Ryan.

“We both had our concerns throughout the pregnancy but at scans we were repeatedly told they’d done the tests and all was fine.

“As first-time parents, you put your trust in them, as they are the professionals, but now I feel we placed too much trust in them.”

Laura and Ryan feel important information was withheld from them when scans, taken at 31 weeks, revealed Matilda was small for that stage of pregnancy.

She died a week later of severe fetal growth restriction.

At the end of the legal case, led by Hudgell Solicitors, WSFT admitted it had been sub-standard care not to refer Laura for a fetal medicine review on February 18, 2022, after a scan identified Matilda’s lack of growth.

It also admitted that a consultant should have become involved in Laura’s care at that stage and, on the balance of probabilities, the consultant would have referred her to the fetal medicine team.

Despite this, the trust did not accept responsibility for baby Matilda’s death, something Ryan said had added to the hurt.

“There’s no certainties in life, but we’ll never know whether Tilly (Matilda) would have survived had the medical professionals acted as they should have,” he said.

“She still may not have survived, but we feel they robbed her of her chance of life.”

Laura and Ryan have since had another daughter, Rosie, who was born in October 2023, at West Suffolk Hospital.

They were supported in the Rainbow Clinic, which provides support to families who are pregnant after experiencing a previous loss.

Ryan said: “The support we had this time, though, couldn’t have been any better. The way we were both looked after was amazing. They couldn’t do enough for us.

“The sad thing is that it has left us feeling like we had to lose a baby to get a good level of service, and that’s not how it should be.

“Every parent should be looked after to the highest standard.”

Karen Newbury, director of maternity services at WSFT, said: “We offer our heartfelt condolences to Mr and Mrs Pryke for the loss of baby Matilda and our sincere apologies to them for the identified shortcomings in the care we provided.

“Patient safety is always our priority and the maternity department has carried out a full safety review, with the learning and actions implemented to ensure we improve our care for all who access our services.”

The trust said it provided additional staff training and feedback on the case at the time.