Midwives awarded £750k in compensation for dangerous exposure to nitrous oxide

Almost £750,000 in compensation has been awarded to over 120 midwives and maternity workers exposed to high levels of nitrous oxide.

The substance, known as laughing gas when used recreationally, forms the main element of gas and air, routinely used for labour pain relief. While safe for women giving birth, long-term exposure can trigger adverse side effects.

The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) stated that poor maternity unit ventilation and leaking gas lines exposed staff at Basildon University Hospital between 2021 and 2023.

Midwives suffered symptoms including fatigue, headaches, brain fog and anxiety.

Thompsons Solicitors, working with the trade union, took legal action on behalf of more than 120 workers, including roughly 80 RCM members, with a settlement of almost £750,000 agreed.

Daniel Poet, partner and disease specialist at Thompsons Solicitors, said: “We’re proud to have secured compensation for our clients, but they should never have been put at risk in the first place.

“The trust knew about the dangers in 2021, but staff weren’t told until the following year and it took another year for safety measures to be introduced.

“That delay is unacceptable.

“Lessons need to be learned.

“This is about protecting workers today and for generations to come.

“Staff must be able to trust that their health and safety comes first.”

An independent review two years ago by the Good Governance Institute found there was an “unacceptable delay” by Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust in its response to concerns about dangerous levels of the gas.

It concluded midwives and other staff on the maternity unit were “exposed to unnecessary risk or potential harm” and that high levels of gas on wards “needed to be treated as a significant risk to health” when concerns were raised in July 2021, but this was not done until October 2022.

Gill Walton, chief executive and general secretary of the RCM, said: “For years, midwives at Basildon were breathing in nitrous oxide at dangerous levels while they cared for women and babies.

“Even once the problem had been discovered, it was more than a year before staff were told.

“That is simply not acceptable and no midwife should ever be treated that way.”

Ms Walton hailed the settlement as a “landmark” for RCM members, and said it “should make every NHS employer sit up and take notice”.

The RCM also stressed that gas and air is safe for women to use for pain relief during labour.

Ms Walton said: “This case was about the conditions midwives were working in, not the gas itself.”

She added: “No settlement can fix the crumbling buildings midwives are working in across the UK.

“Too many are still working in units with failing ventilation, leaking equipment and outdated facilities.

“Our members continue to report recurring problems with ventilation and clean air systems and we are taking these up at local level.

“They must be fixed, in Basildon and in every maternity service across the UK.

“Safe workplaces mean safe care.

“The Government must invest urgently to bring maternity buildings up to standard.

“We will not stop until every midwife can go to work without fearing for their health.”