Mum whose baby died before birth says stillbirth failings at NHS Trust 'have to stop'

Georgia Blinston Jones, from Canterbury, has said the number of stillbirths occurring under East Kent Hospitals NHS Trust's care "has to stop". She says a series of mistakes were made in the care she received before her unborn son Rowan died at 39 weeks, an experience that left her feeling suicidal.

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

Blinston Jones said the findings "can't change what's happened with Rowan" but she hopes they "will make a difference for other expectant mothers". Documents prepared for a trust board meeting revealed the review found "recurrent and systemic weaknesses" in managing high-risk pregnancies, foetal monitoring, maternity triage, escalation procedures and organisational learning.

Further deaths since the review

Since the review was carried out, four more full-term stillbirths occurred between April and July 2026, with three additional cases in August alone. All of these stillbirths happened after 34 weeks of pregnancy, and a separate investigation into them has now been launched.

Blinston Jones, 33, said she dreads learning that Rowan was among the babies who could have survived, and her own experience will now feed into that follow-up review. She added that, before the BBC reported on the issue this week, her family had not been informed about either review — something the trust has also apologised for.

Blinston Jones said she first realised something was wrong during an obstetrics appointment at Kent and Canterbury Hospital in April, when staff could not locate a heartbeat and told her to drive immediately to Ashford Hospital. There, a consultant and senior midwife confirmed Rowan had died, despite him having moved and kicked the day before. She described giving birth to her son and then having to hand him over as "both the best and worst moment" of her life, while praising the hospital's bereavement team. She called the days that followed "horrific", saying that without support from family and friends she is unsure what might have happened.