A mum has vowed to fight for justice for her baby girl who died at a crisis-hit maternity unit.
Trainee nurse Jessica Western, 22, waited nine minutes for help when her daughter Macie stopped breathing shortly after being born.
Macie suffered brain damage but survived for 19 days at the Royal Glamorgan Hospital in Llantrisant, South Wales.
The hospital is one of two run by the Cwm Taf University Health Board to have been placed in special measures after the deaths of 27 babies. Serious failings were revealed involving 43 pregnancies.
The damning review was ordered after 22 stillbirths, five neonatal deaths and 16 labour complications. Only 13 were correctly recorded.
Jessica, of Rhoose, Barry, said: “She wasn’t crying, she was purple and limp. I said, ‘This baby’s not breathing. There’s something wrong’.
“Nine minutes was when they got her help. If it helps one baby to stay alive or mother not to go through what we’ve been through I’ll be happy.”
Cwm Taf University Health Board confirmed she was one of the parents involved with the inquiry.
The Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr Tydfil was also subject to a review by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the Royal College of Midwives.
Concerns included “sub-optimal” leadership, the lack of availability of a consultant obstetrician and inadequate support for junior doctors.
Helen Rogers, Royal College of Midwives director for Wales, said there has been “a failure to act”.
Monique Aziz, 25, of Tonyrefail, South Wales, who lost her son Jesse in 2016, said: “I just want to know if he would have still been here if things had been done differently.”
Sarah Handy, 33, whose daughter Jennifer died in 2017, said: “Hearing the long list of failings was extremely distressing.”
Mari Rosser, of law firm Hugh James who represents the Handys, said: “The report has exposed serious and systemic weakness.”
An independent panel will now oversee maternity services for Cwm Taf University Health Board.
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