FOR football icon Steve Bruce and his family, it is an inescapable grief so palpable, intense and unimaginable that it will never leave them.
His four-month-old grandson, Madison, went to sleep on the October 18, 2024 and never woke up. For his grief-stricken daughter, Amy, 38, and son-in-law Matt Smith, the 36-year-old former Leeds United and Fulham forward, it is a constant battle. Their lives were irrecoverably changed that day – not just by his loss, but because it was entirely preventable.
Bruce stepped back from football and considered turning his back on the game altogether – later describing it as “the tragedy of all tragedies”.
“There’s still not a day where it doesn’t affect you,” Bruce said. “I still find Friday a difficult day because that’s when it happened.
“Losing a child is the ultimate in grief, believe me. Anyone going through the same sort of grief, I feel for them.
“It doesn’t leave you; you just cope. There’s always a reminder around the corner.”
Madison, an inquest heard, had been placed on his front in his cot on the advice of their maternity nurse, Eva Clements, and was later found unresponsive by his father at their home in Trafford, Greater Manchester.
It defied recognised safe sleeping guidance from the NHS and health professionals for young babies who cannot turn themselves over.
Only later, when it was too late, did they discover that Clements and Ruthie Maternity Services, the well-established firm they hired her from, were entirely unregulated.
Clements had no medical qualifications whatsoever.
In fact, all she had was a first aid certificate and a Level 2 diploma in post-natal care awarded after a course lasting just three days.
And the only training Ruthie Maternity Services offered its new recruits was a one-day course costing £450.
Amy and Matt, like so many other parents choosing maternity nurses, assumed it couldn’t be any other way, given the scale of responsibility.
In reality, maternity nurses and nannies are not bound by any regulatory framework in the UK. They are not even subjected to criminal record checks.
Maternity nurses provide 24/7 live-in or daily care for newborns, usually in the first 15 weeks, with an experienced nurse costing around £300 to £400 a day. That price increases for twins or triplets.
They handle bathing, changing and dressing, assist with feeding routines as well as breastfeeding, sleeping and night feeds as well as helping the mother to recover post-birth.
‘Utterly excruciating’
Due to the industry being unregulated, there is no exact figure on the number of nurses in the UK, but it’s believed that a growing ‘wellness’ trend, a lack of family support, and a rise in the number of C-sections have all contributed to their rise.
For years, maternity nurses have been hired by the rich and famous. But in recent years a growing number of parents in the UK have turned to them as they juggle busy and hectic lifestyles.
Campaigners have been calling for a change in the law to make them more accountable. A mandatory register, DBS checks, something at least.
They highlighted other cases, lobbied MPs and warned it was only a matter of time before a tragedy like this one occurred.
The pain is indescribable and often too much to bear. It has totally shattered our entire family. We believe that Madison died in a complete regulatory vacuum
Matt Smith
The Sun echoed their calls for a law change last year after another maternity nurse inflicted 20 separate injuries on a set of newborn twins. But nothing has changed since .
Madison’s death now marks a watershed moment – and his parents agree.
In a statement read out at the inquest in Stockport, devastated Mr Smith said losing their “precious, perfect little boy” had been “utterly excruciating”.
He said: “The pain is indescribable and often too much to bear. It has totally shattered our entire family.
“We believe that Madison died in a complete regulatory vacuum.
“Without regulation, this will happen again, and other parents will place trust in individuals who should not be in the care of infants.”
Coroner Alison Mutch went further – insisting the “purported expertise” of untrained and unregulated people posed a risk to all children in the UK.
She was so appalled by the case that she issued a prevention of future deaths report to Health Secretary Wes Streeting.
Ms Mutch went on: “I hope the services can be regulated and, going forward, parents are not left in a situation where they believe they are employing someone who is qualified to advise them when they are clearly unqualified.
“We have been told that in effect any of us could leave the building today and call ourselves a maternity nurse, as while the term registered nurse is strictly controlled, the term nurse is not.
“It gives an illusion of someone who is highly trained and able to support parents.”
Madison’s parents would “never have dreamed” of putting their son asleep in the prone position, but for the advice of Clements, the inquest was told.
‘Unimaginable tragedy’
Before the early 1990s, babies were often placed on their stomachs to sleep as experts believed it prevented them from choking on vomit or waking themselves up from their “startle” reflex.
But later research linked the sleeping position to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), and the “back to sleep” campaign was launched in 1991 in the UK to help prevent baby deaths.
The current NHS advice states that babies should be placed on their back in a clear, flat, smoke-free cot in the same room as the parents for the first six months – feet towards the bottom of the cot, avoiding pillows or duvets with a room temperature of between 16C and 20C.
The very title, maternity nurse, implies healthcare-trained, qualifications, competence, regulation. But that’s just fantasy
Maria Culley, National Nanny Association UK co-founder
Clements was arrested on suspicion of neglect, but the case was ironically dropped because of the lack of regulation in maternity services.
Last night, the National Nanny Association UK (NNA), which has spearheaded the call for change since 2020, accused the government of not listening.
NNA co-founder Maria Culley said: “There’s no way of knowing how many maternity nurses there are in the UK because there’s simply no register.
“As things stand, without any change, anyone can claim to be a maternity nurse. How can that be?
“The very title, maternity nurse, implies healthcare-trained, qualifications, competence, regulation. But that’s just fantasy.
“This could have been prevented if our call for regulation in the industry had been listened to. It shouldn’t take the death of a baby for that to happen. It’s unacceptable.
“Amy and Matt and their wider family are going through the most unimaginable tragedy. They put their trust in someone who they believed was highly skilled and regulated.
“I hope to God they don’t blame themselves. It’s not their fault. They hired someone they thought was a professional.”
Madison’s death comes a year after a judge took the extraordinary step of naming Emily Waters as the maternity nurse responsible for inflicting a catalogue of injuries to newborn twins during a 12-day stint with the family.
Twin X suffered a broken leg, a fractured skull, a bruise to the forehead and seven rib breaks.
Hospital X-rays also found Twin Y suffered 10 separate rib fractures.
Judge Judith Rowe said there was a “powerful public interest” in identifying Waters because of the lack of regulation.
She said: “It would be difficult to explain to the public why the name of the perpetrator was hidden, without a compelling reason.
“Beyond the question of the public interest, very significant in this case in itself, publication will significantly add to the safeguards against the risk posed to children by Ms Waters.
“The court has already implemented such safeguards as it is able, however they are far from complete.”
Waters, of St Ives, Cambridgeshire, was hired by the family to look after the twins at the end of September 2023, including night-time feeds.
But on October 6 she woke the mother at 1:36am to tell her that baby X was in distress.
The twins’ father took X to hospital where an x-ray found the newborn had suffered a broken femur.
Further scans identified a list of other injuries, sparking a police probe.
A forensic examination of Waters’ phone later found she had googled “broken leg baby” and “broken leg in children” at 12:19am – just over an hour before she raised the alarm.
In one text message recovered by police she told a pal she was exhausted – adding: “Going to launch these twins out the window in a min.”
Waters admitted causing the leg break and bruise to the forehead of X, but insisted they were accidental.
While the case was investigated and Walters was named by the judge, no further action was taken.
It’s been the worst time of my family’s entire lives – and is something no family should have to endure
Steve Bruce
Tory MP Robbie Moore called for a change in the law to make it compulsory for nannies to be subjected to enhanced criminal record checks.
A petition has also been set up to pressure the government into action.
Mr Moore said: “In our current system, ANYONE can call themselves a nanny, with no legal requirement for DBS checks, qualifications, or even basic training in child safety. That has to change.”
NNA co-founder Allie Bell: “This latest incident underscores the critical gaps in the current childcare framework, particularly concerning nannies and maternity nurses who operate without mandatory regulation or oversight.
“Despite our ongoing efforts to advocate for stricter safeguards, the absence of standardised checks and professional accountability continues to place children at unnecessary risk.
“We urge policymakers, childcare professionals, and families to unite in support of these necessary reforms.
“What will it take for them to act?”
Bruce, 65, still grieving the loss of his grandson, put it perfectly when he said: “It’s been the worst time of my family’s entire lives – and is something no family should have to endure.”
