Distraught mother sues NHS hospital over baby death

‘Our baby died because doctors wouldn’t listen’: Heartbroken mother sues NHS hospital over infant death saying medics ignored her pleas for a C-section’

• Patryk Bielaszka lost oxygen during his birth at King’s College Hospital in 2019
• His mother had pleaded with doctors for an early caesarian, warning of risks

The parents of a newborn baby who died after doctors allegedly ignored a medical condition are suing a hospital trust for negligence.

Barbara Bielaszka, 38, says doctors at King’s College Hospital, London, disregarded her pleas for a planned caesarian section before she went into labour with son Patryk in October 2019.

Mrs Bielaszka and her husband Grzegorz, from Poland, had previously had an ultrasound scan in their own country which warned there was a high risk of ruptured blood vessels.

But sadly, doctors took no heed of her calls, and blood vessels between mother and baby burst during labour, causing a haemorrhage which starved baby Patryk of oxygen, The Mirror reports.

Barbara and Grzegorz Bielaszka with newborn baby Patryk (right) and their older son, shortly before Patryk’s sad death

Patryk suffered serious brain injury as a result and lingered on for ten agonizing days until the decision was made to switch off his life support.

Mrs Bielsaszka said: ‘Our lives changed forever when our beautiful son passed away in our arms. We still struggle to smile and feel crushed by what happened to him.

‘We had multiple meetings with different people and instead of taking responsibility they tried to blame me because my English isn’t good enough. It’s been almost four years since we lost our boy and we haven’t even had an inquest.

‘We just want answers and for somebody to take responsibility as in my mind they killed our child.’

Mr and Mrs Bielaszka, who have since returned to Poland and had another child, are suing King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, and are represented by Osbornes Law. 

The Trust has accepted liability.

Mrs Bielsaszka said: ‘Our lives changed forever when our beautiful son passed away in our arms. We still struggle to smile and feel crushed by what happened to him’

Mrs Bielaska’s first scan in Poland in August 2019 showed she had a low-lying placenta and a condition known as vasa praevia, in which the blood vessels passing from the baby to the mother are unprotected by the umbilical cord, with a high risk of them rupturing.

A Polish doctor is reported to have said the baby would need to be born by caesarean section due to the risk of ruptured vessels during labour.

Upon coming back to the UK, Mrs Bielaszka was wrongly deemed low risk by NHS doctors despite high blood sugar levels, and she also told a doctor about the scan.

A second scan took place in the UK on July 3, 2019, after which, her lawyers say, she ought to have been referred for a transvaginal ultrasound scan at 32 weeks, which would have uncovered the vasa praevia.

Barbara was admitted to hospital on October 23, 2019, in order to be induced. She complained of pains in her abdomen, but she says this was dismissed by clinicians who accused her of ‘being over dramatic’.

Baby Patryk lived for just ten days before a decision was made to turn off his life support

The following day, Mrs Bielaszka suffered burst vessels and an emergency caesarian was carried out to deliver Patryk, which sadly came too late for the baby to survive. 

Lawyers representing the family insist that if the Polish ultrasound had been considered, and that if findings of the scan on 3 July 2019 had been acted upon, then Patryk would have been born by a planned caesarean and would still be alive today.

Specialist Medical negligence solicitor Nick Leahy, of Osborne’s Law said: ‘This is a truly tragic case that has understandably devastated the lives of my clients.

‘Patryk’s parents were ignored by doctors, despite them having independent medical advice which showed Barbara’s pregnancy was at risk. Patryk’s death was completely avoidable, yet my clients feel that their poor English is being blamed for leading to what happened in this case.

‘Sadly, I have acted in other cases in which parents’ limited command of English has led them to feel like their concerns are being ignored. My clients have understandably lost complete trust in the NHS as a result of these events.’

King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust stated: ‘We offer our sincere condolences to Barbara and her family for their loss. For legal reasons we are unable to provide further comment at this stage.’

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