Stillbirth failings 'have to stop', mum tells Trust

A mum whose baby died during pregnancy has said the number of stillbirths occurring under the watch of one NHS Trust "has to stop".

Georgia Blinston Jones, from Canterbury, claims she experienced a number of mistakes in the care she received prior to losing her unborn son Rowan at 39 weeks, which left her feeling suicidal.

On Wednesday, East Kent Hospitals NHS Trust apologised for "failing families" after an independent review found eight babies, stillborn at its hospitals between June 2025 and March 2026, might have survived with better care.

Blinston Jones said while the findings "can't change what's happened with Rowan", she hopes it "will make a difference for other expectant mothers".

Documents for a trust board meeting on Thursday revealed the review had found "recurrent and systemic weaknesses in the management of high-risk pregnancy, foetal surveillance, maternity triage, escalation and organisational learning".

In addition, since the review a further four full-term stillbirths have taken place from April 2026 and July 2026, with three more in August 2026 alone.

All the stillbirths occurred after 34 weeks gestation and another investigation into those subsequent deaths has been ordered.

"I dread finding out that Rowan was one of those babies that could have survived," said Blinston Jones, 33, whose experiences will go to form part of that next review.

However, she added that prior to the BBC's reporting on the matter this week her family had not known about either review, for which the trust has also apologised.

Blinston Jones said she first found out there was a problem with her baby when she went for an obstetrics appointment at the Kent and Canterbury Hospital in April.

"It was there that staff tried find a heart beat but couldn't, so I was told to immediately drive myself to Ashford hospital.

"I just knew that something was really wrong, and I was then told by a consultant and a senior midwife at Ashford that Rowan had died.

"I was in sheer disbelief as he'd been moving about and kicking the day before," said Blinston Jones.

She described then giving birth to her son, only to hand him over, as "both the best and worst moment of her life".

While praising the hospital's bereavement team, Blinston Jones called the days which followed "horrific".

"I remember saying that I just didn't want to be here anymore," she said, adding that without the support of family and friends she was not sure what the outcome might have been.

Blinston Jones, who had been a high risk pregnancy with foetal growth concerns, said the trust had failed to learn from its precious mistakes in cases such as hers.

"From the report it's clear such errors had happened before, yet they're still making those errors," she added.

"I also had gestational diabetes but wasn't checked for that."

Blinston Jones, who also has a three-year-old son, said she wanted "actual practical change" from the trust in the future, rather than more "pieces of paper saying they'll do things".

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