Mother who 'did not consent' to abortion wins £27,000 payout

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Princess Alexandra hospital in Harlow, Essex, was found to have gone ahead with the procedure on Teresa Cooper, 40, after failing to provide her with information on the health of her unborn baby.

In papers filed with the court, Ms Cooper was said to have been concerned that antibiotics she took for an E.coli infection during her pregnancy could have affected the foetus.

Ms Cooper from Ongar, Essex signed an abortion consent form but two days before the scheduled procedure she developed doubts after watching an anti-abortion video.

When she arrived at the hospital, Ms Cooper told staff she only wanted to go through with the abortion because of medical concerns and asked for more information, but was taken into theatre upset and tearful.

The Princess Alexandra hospital trust admitted that Ms Cooper did not receive adequate counselling and the procedure went ahead without confirmation of her consent or a consultation with a surgeon.

After receiving the settlement, Ms Cooper, who has three children aged 20, 18 and 14, said the experience had "opened all the wounds of my childhood".

In a memoir published last month, Pin Down, Ms Cooper says she was born to an alcoholic father and a mentally ill mother and had suffered sexual abuse as a child in the care system.

She said: "When you've gone through the care system and the only thing you've ever been good at is having your children and someone takes that away from you, that is really bad for someone like me."

Her solicitor David Kerry said: "Teresa wanted answers to her concerns about her own health and that of her baby. It was as if she was on a conveyor belt which was impossible to stop.

"Despite her obvious distress she was not respected as an individual, with the tragic result that she lost her baby totally unnecessarily."

A trust spokesman said: "Extra training has been provided and the patient pathway for the treatment improved to ensure the same thing could not happen again.

"We would like to apologise to Ms Cooper for the shortcomings in the care."