A 23-year-old mum has been awarded £23,000 by Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust after her unborn baby died from health complications, according to a report from Hudgell Solicitors.

The report said a scan while the mum was 37 weeks pregnant showed her baby was underweight and that fluid from her womb had leaked.

The trust arranged for the mum to return in six days for early labour, but the report said she should have been induced within 48 hours, according to National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.

Three days after the scan, the woman returned to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woolwich saying she had experienced contractions.

During the visit, the mother’s unborn daughter was found to have died.

The stillborn girl weighed about five pounds, and had experienced low levels of oxygen in the womb – but the cause of death was not confirmed.

The mum said in the report: “I didn’t cope well, it really destroyed me. I was left holding her and I couldn’t believe it.

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"I look back and think why did they not listen to me and take me seriously when I told them things were not right.

"I think it was because they saw me as a first-time mother, but they didn’t monitor me closely enough.”

The woman was told early in her pregnancy that she was at risk of developing pre-eclampsia toxaemia, a condition that can cause health complications for both the mother and baby.

The trust was said to have made a care plan with regular ultrasound scans to check the baby’s health.

The mother said in the report: “They promised extra care due to the pre-eclampsia but that didn’t really happen.

"I don’t believe I was given the right attention; I know this was during the Covid pandemic but I still deserved to have proper care.

"If I had been induced earlier, I think my baby would be alive.”

Solicitor Samantha Gardner, who represented the mum, said the medical negligence claim was based on the mum suffering an adverse outcome due to substandard treatment from the trust.

She said: “This was a tragic case for any mother let alone someone who was expecting her very first child.

"Stillbirths can have devastating effects on families and in this case, there was a failure of the Trust which provided substandard care.

“My client should have been given the opportunity to deliver her baby early when the health issues became clear to medical staff.

"But that did not happen, instead, they arranged for her to return in six days which was far too late and a breach of their duty of care.”

Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Foundation Trust admitted liability for the event in an out-of-court settlement and agreed to pay £23,000 in compensation to the mum.

The mum is now preparing to welcome her second child with her partner in the next few months, according to the report.

She said: “It has affected my mental health and I have experienced depression, but I’m expecting another child soon and I have had to move on and think positively for all of our sakes.”

A Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust spokesperson said: “We are deeply sorry and offer our heartfelt condolences to the mother and her partner for the tragic loss of their baby.

"A full investigation was carried out at the time, and since then we have made improvements to our maternity triage process to ensure the very best outcomes for mothers and babies.”