TV midwife who cared for newborn ... then told mum she’d had a f ling with her partner
BEING told about your partner’s infidelity would be a shattering blow at any time.
But for one mother the news came as she was lying in a recovery ward after giving birth by caesarean.
And to make matters unimaginably worse, the woman who confessed to sleeping with her partner was the midwife.
The mother said Joanne Lumsden, who starred in Channel 4’s One Born Every Minute, admitted having the fling while he was on a ‘lads’ holiday’ in Spain and she was pregnant at home.
The midwife is now facing disciplinary action and no longer works at Liverpool Women’s Hospital.
The mother, who asked not to be named, said the day after she had her baby Miss Lumsden revealed she had met her partner in Benidorm. The midwife said she had ‘rubbed suncream’ into his back, then called later to reveal full details of the affair, it is alleged.
The mother said: ‘I was subjected to the most horrific ordeal. As any woman about to give birth would understand, I put my utmost trust and confidence into the hands of a midwife who I thought was a medical professional with mine and my daughter’s best interests at heart.
‘This will haunt me for as long as I live. This woman held my baby in her arms knowing she had engaged in recent sexual activity with her father.’
Miss Lumsden, who appeared in the TV series in 2013, is understood to have delivered more than 500 Liverpool women’s babies.
But she failed to declare a conflict of interest when helping to care for the mother’s daughter. An internal investigation into her conduct has been carried out by the hospital and is understood to have been referred to the Nursing and Midwifery Council, which has the power to strike her off.
The mother said: ‘ This has amounted to the destruction of a family. Miss Lumsden chose to ignore a series of opportunities to declare the conflict of interest. Instead, she took matters into her own hands and made sure she was present that day.’ Miss Lumsden was unavailable for comment last night.
The mother said the daughter was the first child she was having with her unnamed partner.
But she described how he started acting ‘ strangely’ when he returned from the holiday, making excuses to miss scans and appointments related to the pregnancy.
Last summer, she was admitted to the hospital for a planned caesarean but her partner missed the birth. The mother believes this was due to fear of having his affair with Miss Lumsden exposed.
Her claims are detailed in an official complaint she made to Liverpool Women’s NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the hospital.
In her letter of complaint, the mother, who has three older children, claims Miss Lumsden cared for her and her newborn daughter.
She said she feels ‘violated’ and any happy memories of the birth have been tainted.
A week later, when a community midwife visited her while she was still under the care of Liverpool Women’s Hospital, she claims she broke down and told her what had happened. The community midwife is also the subject of disciplinary proceedings, although details of that case are not known. The mother, who is understood to have split from her partner, said she sent her letter of complaint in November after she finished breastfeeding and felt able to take the emotional strain.
The hospital trust has since sent her a letter apologising for her ordeal and telling her the complaint was upheld.
A spokesman said: ‘We can confirm that disciplinary proceedings were undertaken by the trust as a result of two members of staff’s conduct. The trust took this action immediately upon being made aware of the incident. The disciplinary process is now being dealt with by the Nursing and Midwifery Council. The patient also made a formal complaint and we have been in regular communication with [her] throughout the process.
‘We would like to apologise for the upset caused to the patient as a result of their experience.’
The Nursing and Midwifery Council said it could not comment on current investigations.
In publicity for One Born Every Minute, which is currently filmed in Birmingham, Miss Lumsden said: ‘I get to experience the miracle of childbirth every day, and watch couples become a family.’
‘This will haunt me as long as I live’