Childbirth is basic women's healthcare and it nearly left me dead. The NHS must learn from what they did.

Heather demands better care in maternity wards

- BY RUTH SUTER

HEALTH chiefs have apologised to a mum who was left butchered in a C-section after the Record highlighted her plea for better care in Scotland's scandal-hit maternity wards.

Heather Boyd, 38, nearly died after giving birth to her boy, Charlie, at Crosshouse Hospital in Kilmarnock in January last year.

Her bowel was perforated during an operation to treat an abdominal abscess that developed after her caesarean.

An underlying pelvic infection then sent her into septic shock before medics were forced to place her into two induced comas. She was in hospital for six months before she was discharged with a 16in hole across her abdomen.

The mum, from Saltcoats, Ayrshire, now requires the use of a stoma bag and a feeding tube.

The Record reported Heather's ordeal in November amid a probe into the state of maternity units across the country.

She called on ministers to take swift action to protect women and babies from the “agony” she experienced.

This week, after receiving a letter of apology over her treatment from NHS Ayrshire and Arran, Heather said that gesture “isn't enough”.

Heather said: “I was in hospital for half of my baby's first year and I missed out on crucial early days and important bonding time.

“I've learnt how to normalise myself with this open abdomen, but it’s not normal at all.

“I want the health board to learn from what happened to me.

“I want them to learn a serious lesson from this and for it to never happen again. I can't have any more now. It wouldn't be possible to carry a pregnancy with the amount of injuries I have.