Midwives left newborn baby in stationery cupboard while its sick mother slept, inquest hears

 
'I didn't think': Midwife Christine Onade, right, with colleague Yvonne Musonda-Malata
12 November 2013

Two midwives on night shift left a four-day-old baby alone in a stationery cupboard while its sick mother slept, a tribunal heard today.

The child was found at scandal-hit Queen’s Hospital in Romford at 6.30am when a nursery nurse went to get an envelope and opened the walk-in cupboard, the Nursing and Midwifery Council was told today.

The infant was lying on its stomach in its cot despite safety advice to lie babies on their backs to cut the risk of cot death.

Yvonne Musonda-Malata, 35, and Christine Onade, 46, are accused of failing to provide appropriate clinical care to a baby in April 2011, including failing to keep track of its feeds.

Nursery nurse Alex Curtis told the hearing: “I went to the post-natal ward to get an envelope from the stationery cupboard and found a baby lying on its tummy on its own.

“The baby was in the cot just behind the door. I cannot remember whether the light was off or on, but I saw baby on its front and went to check if it was breathing. This was an unusual occurrence. We always lie a baby on its back as there is a risk of cot death.”

She added: “If, as a nursery nurse, I took responsibility for a parent’s baby, I would never leave it alone. If I needed to go off and do something, I would ask another nurse to look after the baby.”

The hospital has one of the biggest maternity units in the country, with about 8,000 births a year.

But it has been subjected to repeated criticism by the health watchdog, most recently over two maternal deaths in 2011 and delays in treating patients in its A&E department.

The tribunal was told that Ms Malata, who has worked as a nurse since 2004, was responsible for looking after the baby while its mother caught up on sleep.

It is alleged that she tended to the baby, known as Baby A, in a cot by the midwives’ station before moving it into a large stationery cupboard after it became unsettled.

Derek Zeitlin, the case presenter at the NMC, said: “The baby’s mother has a health condition and it is vitally important for her to get a good night’s sleep. Her husband therefore invited the midwives to take the baby away so that his wife could get a good night’s sleep.

“That decision was not taken lightly. The nurse looking after Baby A’s mother was involved in that decision. It was the right thing to do.”

Mr Zeitlin explained that the baby became unsettled at “various points” throughout the night, adding that there was “no specific place to put a baby” while it was looked after in the post-natal ward.

He said that Ms Malata and Ms Onade had both confirmed that Ms Malata had placed Baby A in a cot in the doorway of the cupboard, but claim that the door was kept open.

Mr Zeitlin said: “There came a stage where Ms Malata was called away to another patient and was away for about 20 minutes.

“The next thing that happened was a member of the nursing staff went to the cupboard and was shocked to find Baby A inside. The door was closed. ”

Both midwives deny all allegations. The hearing continues.

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