Mum with ruptured placenta ‘crying with pain’ during labour, inquiry told
THE mother of a child who developed cerebral palsy due to issues with her birth was “crying with pain” and in a “very distressed” state during her labour.
Staff on duty at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda, Co Louth, on December 11, 2011, said that patient Nanci Martin “wasn’t able to tolerate anyone talking to her or touching her” as she was in so much pain.
Five midwives gave evidence at a fitness to practise inquiry in Dublin concerning a colleague – referred to as Registrant A – who is facing eight allegations of poor professional performance about events that unfolded at the hospital on that date.
Ms Martin’s daughter Milagros suffered catastrophic injuries at birth. Ms Martin subsequently made a complaint regarding the care she received.
She previously had a caesarean section to deliver her son and experienced a rupture of her placenta during Milagros’ birth.
Registrant A, who was granted anonymity, is facing a number of allegations by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland, including failure to adequately monitor or assess Ms Martin’s wellbeing, failing to respond adequately to her request for pain relief, and failure to respond adequately when she knew or ought to have known or suspected that Ms Martin might have placental abruption. It is also alleged that she falsely recorded that at 3pm on the day in question, Ms Martin was coping well and did not wish to have pain relief.
It is not alleged that Registrant A is responsible for the outcome of Milagros’ birth, but it is alleged she fell short of the expected standards of her profession.
Another midwife told the inquiry that she had known Registrant A since she was a student and she was someone “of great experience”. “As a student years ago I worked on her unit a lot and I worked there for a year before moving to the labour ward. She’s someone you would have been glad to be on a shift with. She’s a lovely midwife,” she said.
The midwife, who worked on the labour ward, said she received a call on the day from Registrant A notifying her that Ms Martin was to be transferred to her ward.
“As a midwife on the labour ward, taking calls from other wards to get someone transferred for pain relief, it would be a normal call,” she said.
She said when she saw Ms Martin on her ward, she was “crying with pain” and was in a “very distressed state”.
“She was finding it hard to stay in bed. We were trying to listen to the baby’s heart rate, they [patients] don’t want you touching them when they’re in so much pain. When someone did get a heart rate it was very low.”
Asked under cross-examination if Registrant A would be the type of midwife to leave a patient in pain, she responded: “No, she would definitely be getting them sorted.”
A second midwife was also asked what it was like to work alongside Registrant A.
Simon Mills SC, for Registrant A, said one of the allegations facing his client is that she was “rude and dismissive”. He asked the second midwife if she shared that view.
“No, I wouldn’t have felt that. I always found her to be very approachable, very kind towards the patients. I would never have had any concerns of her acting inappropriately towards the women she gave care to,” she said.
Earlier the inquiry heard from the most senior midwife on duty in the maternity unit.
She recalled how she went to visit Ms Martin after the birth and when she went into the room Registrant A was there.
She said everyone in the room was very upset. In an earlier hearing, Ms Martin gave evidence that she felt the midwife panicked and seemed to be unaware she had had a C-section with her first child. She said she was in “horrendous pain” while being examined by her.
Ms Martin told how her daughter is now like a “baby” and although a bright and happy child, she cannot swallow or talk and has difficulty sleeping due to epilepsy. “She can’t say mama and dada.”
The hospital previously apologised to the family for “deficits in care” in relation to Milagros’s birth as part of a settlement of her case against the HSE in 2015, with an interim payment of €1.9m for her care.
The inquiry continues in May.
‘When someone did get a heart rate it was very low’