THE parents of a Wirral woman who died in childbirth have settled with the NHS Foundation Trust which treated her.

Carly Harper, of Orrysdale Road, West Kirby, died in May 2012 after being admitted to Arrowe Park Hospital three days earlier when her waters broke when she was almost 24 weeks' pregnant.

The five figure settlement, which was made in advance of an inquest due to be held today into Carly's death, has been announced by specialist clinical negligence solicitor James Thompson of Simpson Millar solicitors, who is acting on behalf of Carly’s father, Robert Harper against Wirral University Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

The 26-year-old hairdresser was expecting her first child with boyfriend Alex Dearden when she developed severe sepsis, a life-threatening blood infection, and the decision was taken to deliver the baby, resulting in a miscarriage.

Carly was taken immediately to the operating theatre and then to critical care, where she died on the morning of May 20 after suffering multiple organ failure.

James Thompson said: “In light of the settlement and despite the trust’s evidence at the inquest, the family remains adamant that the admitted negligent obstetric treatment provided to Carly during the premature labour of her first child was to blame for her death.

“The family feels very strongly that it was a failure from staff at Arrowe Park Hospital to recognise, manage and treat the severe sepsis which led to Carly’s death after she went into premature labour.”

In reaching settlement with Mr and Mrs Harper, the trust admitted that “there was a delay in delivering the Deceased’s foetus and in administering the second antibiotic as per Trust policy.”

However, they did not accept that their failings contributed to Carly’s death.

The inquest which will examine in detail the cause of Carly’s death in May 2012 takes place before coroner David Lewis, who will call several clinicians that were responsible for her care during the period of delay to give evidence.

Mr Thompson added: “The trust produced a Serious Incident Review Report which recognised a number of failings in the care provided to Carly – including the failure of the obstetric team to respond with sufficient urgency to the seriousness of her condition.

"The window of time when Carly’s life might have been saved was wasted and her family are now living with the consequences.

"The very least they deserved is absolute clarity about what happened on that fatal day in May 2012, and to be reassured that steps are taken to prevent the senseless loss of such young lives again in the future.”

“It is Mr and Mrs Harper’s firm belief that Carly died as a consequence of negligent medical treatment: there was a failure to recognise, manage and diagnose severe sepsis,” adde Mr Thompson.

“Although it was apparent that the doctors and nurses were faced with a busy maternity ward that day, they did not know how to prioritise the patients and there was little involvement from the consultant until it was too late.

Robert Harper, who lives with Carly’s mother Christine in Heswall, said: “When Carly began feeling unwell we became extremely worried.

"The evening of  May 19, Christine stayed with her in hospital and I went home.

"She called me later on to say that it wasn’t looking good but told me to stay at home.

"At 1.30am that night, she called again and said ‘you better get here fast’.

“When I saw Carly in the ICU my first words were ‘my god, what have they done to her.’

"I just couldn’t understand what had happened.

"I phoned Carly’s sister Kimberley and she brought her brother Tommy down to the hospital straight away. Matthew was away training with the army and he didn’t make it in time.”