Parents Blame Hospital Errors for Stillbirth of Daughter Lois at Luton Facility

Lauryn McCready recalls the excitement when she and her husband Andrew learned they were expecting a baby after several miscarriages.

The Luton couple kept the gender a surprise but shared the news with friends and family. They prepared their home for the new arrival. Joy turned to grief when mistakes during Lauryn's labor led to the stillbirth of their daughter Lois. Her death was one of 2,341 stillbirths in England and Wales that year.

The couple gave evidence to the Amos Inquiry, a national review of maternity care, to push for improvements. Lauryn, a primary school teacher, and Andrew, a carpenter, expected a vaginal delivery at Luton and Dunstable Hospital after an uncomplicated pregnancy. Lauryn entered the hospital with naive trust that everything would work out.

More than a week overdue, with contractions starting 48 hours earlier, she arrived at the maternity ward around 22:00 on September 4, 2023. The department was extremely busy. A midwife told her, "You picked a bad day to have a baby," a comment that haunts them.

Lauryn spent 28 hours in the maternity triage unit. They overheard nurses discussing staff shortages and a no-show colleague. The baby's heartbeat was monitored, and Lauryn had eight vaginal examinations showing no progress.

Just after 02:00 on September 6, staff detected the heart rate dropping as her waters broke during a cervical exam. An obstetrician reviewed the case, and notes show a call at about 03:30 for a Category 1 C-section, which requires 30 minutes. The couple says they were never informed, and the urgency was downgraded.

Forty-five minutes later, with no detectable heart rate, clinicians decided on immediate delivery. Things shifted rapidly. Lauryn was rushed to theater. She sensed something wrong in the hushed room until an alarm sounded and it filled with people.

Lauryn asked repeatedly if it was a girl or boy. Lois was born at 04:26 on September 6 with no heartbeat. Medics tried resuscitation for 25 minutes. Lauryn, unable to see, said much was a blur but she has flashes of memory. Andrew said the time felt like 25 hours as hope faded.

They were told Lois was not responding and resuscitation would stop. Lauryn screamed, "No!"

A post-mortem found Lois died from sudden severe oxygen deprivation to vital organs, likely from inhaling her first stool and a bacterial infection.

The couple was moved to a private room past the labor ward. Lauryn worried holding Lois might scare others, but a nurse said to hold her close and no one would know. Lauryn thought, "I just want to be like any other mum and baby."

They spent four precious days in hospital with Lois, bathing her, reading books, making casts of her hands and feet, and having family visit. Then they said goodbye, returned home to plan her funeral instead of enjoying a newborn bubble. Andrew called it a nightmare that never ended. The house was full of baby things they shut in her room.

An NHS maternity safety investigation found errors including failure to call for a C-section by 02:40 a.m., poor heartbeat monitoring, inadequate risk assessments and handovers, midwives not raising concerns, and excessive vaginal exams raising infection risk.

The couple settled a negligence claim against Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust out of court in 2025. The trust acknowledged some mistakes but denied others. Andrew said it felt like ripping open a healing wound. The trust accepts an earlier C-section would on balance of probabilities have saved Lois's life but denies she would have been healthy.

David Carter, the trust's chief executive, said: "We are truly sorry for their loss and for the mistakes in care that have previously been acknowledged by the Trust." He said they took the safety report seriously with an action plan covering early labor care, risk assessment, senior doctor reviews for delays, and staff confidence to raise concerns.

The McCreadys testified to the National Maternity and Neonatal Safety Investigation led by Baroness Valerie Amos because maternity services are not prioritized. Their case echoes national issues.

Lauryn doubts trust promises after a January 2026 CQC report rated maternity services inadequate, citing staff shortages, low morale, failure to learn from incidents, and delays in C-sections and inductions.

She wants the inquiry findings taken seriously and backs a UK-wide independent maternity commissioner, a campaign by Louise Thompson. Stillbirth rates fell from 2000 to 2020 and stabilized at about four per 1,000 births.

Lauryn is grateful for the cooling cot that let them spend time with Lois. The couple calls it insane not every hospital has CuddleCots or Cold Cots, funded by donations. All families should have access, they say. They raised £7,600 for Abigail's Footsteps, which provides the beds, and £24,000 for Tommy's.

They now have another daughter, Iris, but Lois remains central. Lauryn says Iris will know she has a big sister. "We are a family of four -- even though it doesn't look like that."