Coronation Street Storyline Highlights Maternity Care Negligence

UK soap, Coronation Street, is currently airing a storyline in which issues relating to negligence in maternity care are highlighted.

Failures in Care

Coronation Street character, Dee-Dee Bailey, was seen going into labour in scenes aired on 31 March.

Despite being in extreme pain, she was sent home from the hospital but, not long after, her waters broke. However, even after returning to the hospital, a series of avoidable delays ensued. Eventually, Dee-Dee was diagnosed with pre-eclampsia and told that her baby had to be delivered immediately as an emergency delivery.

Following the birth of her baby, yet more failures in care occur. Despite reporting that she still felt very unwell, Dee-Dee’s concerns were dismissed. Shortly after, Dee-Dee fell unconscious, and maternity staff finally realised that she was bleeding heavily.

She had suffered a huge haemorrhage requiring life-changing surgery. Dee-Dee has to have an emergency hysterectomy in order to save her life, rendering her infertile.

As the character processes the birth in the aftermath of her surgery, she begins to wonder if there were mistakes made in the care provided to her and, in particular, whether her pain and symptoms were not taken seriously due to her ethnicity.

As a result, Dee-Dee considers making an official complaint of gross negligence against the hospital.

Raising awareness

The issues highlighted by this soap storyline are incredibly important and help to raise awareness of the serious and ongoing issues within maternity services in the UK.

Maternity care in the UK has been under intense scrutiny in recent years. There have been a multitude of reports of failures in maternity care resulting in injury, harm, and deaths of babies and mothers.

It is vital that these stories are told, and television shows such as Coronation Street using their platform to do so is great to see.

Channique Sterling-Brown, who plays Dee-Dee in the soap, has said there is a “systemic issue” in maternity care in the UK.

According to MBRRACE-UK, an organisation that conducts inquiries and investigates the deaths of women and babies who die during or shortly after pregnancy in the UK, say research shows that black women are 3.7 times more likely to die during or in their first year after pregnancy than white women.

National patient safety report

The National Patient Safety Report 2024 recently outlined that maternity indicators showed a worrying picture, with rates of stillbirths, neonatal deaths, and maternal deaths increasing. For example, maternal deaths per 100,000 maternities increased from 9.71 in 2022 to 13.41 in 2024.