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Posted March 11th, 2008 by minortopics | Permalink

Midwife delivers dead baby and fails to notice

While two midwives undergo disciplinary action for delivering a stillborn baby, failing to notice the baby was stillborn and neglecting to use proper monitoring equipment that would have likely prevented the death, MT thinks more blame should be put on the parents.

The mother was warned by doctors as she previously had a c-section that a midwife, VBAC may not be in their unborn child’s best interest and was labeled a high risk pregnancy. They took the risk and they gambled with their baby’s life against a doctor’s advice. Their choice. Nobody’s fault but theirs. (Unless socialized medicine leaves you with no choice but to deliver with a midwife, then MT takes it all back.)

Sandra Bickers and Peter Davies, both 45, ignored instructions from a senior doctor and later on Davies did not even realise Scarlet had turned blue.

Mrs Reader and her husband Len watched in horror as the midwife promised the baby would be fine.

“He had put her on my chest and I said she looked blue,” Mrs Reader sobbed. “He hadn’t realised she was dead, he had no idea.”

The midwife hit the emergency alarm and the resuscitation team arrived to try to revive the baby but it was too late.


Information from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/ar...



Comments

5 Responses
  1. Lisa
    Mar 11th, 2008
    [1] | Flag |

    Blaming the mother is just what the midwives did 3 years ago when this baby was born. The story you report about is the final result of an inquiry into the birth and death of this baby. The inquiry found that one midwife acted negligently, and fired him as a result. It also found the second midwife did not act professionally, and has included a disciplinary statement in her employment file for 5 years. These findings vindicate the mother, who was accused by hospital midwives of refusing to be monitored, when that was the fault of the midwives in attendance.

    Vaginal birth is safer than a c-section, even after a previous c-section. A caesarean is still major surgery. These parents made the best choice possible for their baby, the choice that follows the evidence. This baby was stillborn. If the infant was still alive during labor, and the midwives properly monitored fetal heart tones, a change in heart rate could have been detected. We don’t know the full story. The panel, however, did have the facts of the labor and birth before them, and found the midwives, not the mother, at fault.

  2. Sarah StewartAvatar
    Mar 11th, 2008
    [2] | Flag |

    I’m sorry, MT, but you are way out of line saying what you have said about the parents in such an inflammatory manner without the full facts. I can only backup what the previous comment said. VBAC in most cases is safer than a repeat CS and is a very reasonable choice unless in rare situations it is contra-indicated. If the midwives` were negligent, how can it be the parents fault?

  3. Courtney
    Mar 11th, 2008
    [3] | Flag |

    MT-are you a mother? You have no idea what a mother goes through in loosing her child. Have you ever made a decision that you thought was best and maybe it wasn’t. Babies are safely delievered all the time with competent professional midwives and they excellent outcomes. This mother was trying to make an informed best decision for her child. To blame her is unusually cruel. She has suffered enough.

  4. labortrialsAvatar
    Mar 11th, 2008
    [4] | Flag |

    I find this to be an incredibly insensitive post. The parents lost their child! Stillbirth unfortunately does happen. Midwifery care is (usually) the best model for assisting low-risk VBAC birth. A cesarean scar doesn’t make a mother high risk; it’s in a grey area - not medically considered high risk, but not low risk enough for some practitioners. Regardless, the risk of rupture in an unmedicated unaugmented vaginal birth is about .8%. Did you know that ANY woman in labor (cesarean or vaginal) could rupture? Did you know that there are other complications that arise in both vaginal and cesarean birth that have negative outcomes? Are you aware of the long-term negative effects of cesarean surgery? If you have a scar on your body, are you constantly afraid that using that part of your body will mean that the body part will rupture? No, of course not. Have a look at http://www.childbirthconnection.org and http://www.ican-online.org to learn something not biased by surgeons about cesarean surgery and vaginal birth.

  5. Len Reader
    Mar 12th, 2008
    [5] | Flag |

    Thankyou Lisa, Sarah and Courtney for your comments and support.

    I feel I need to defend ourselves once again.

    Our consultant(who we have the utmost respect for) explained the risks to us for a VBAC, he also explained the risks involved if having another CS. He was happy about a VBAC delivery and never once advised us against it. He wrote in the notes what procedures/telemetry were to be followed. Sadly, this was ignored and the second stage of labour was allowed to go on for too long.

    I can’t say too much, but there is alot more that the press has not reported. The Nursing Midwifery Council(NMC) Hearing heard all the facts over the six days. Those facts had to be proven beyond any reasonable doubt, especially when making a striking off order.

    Scarlett’s Dad

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