Midwife struck off after botched birth

A midwife who committed a catalogue of failings during a woman's pregnancy and labour was today ordered to be struck off.

Susan Rose, 55, was earlier found guilty of misconduct over her handling of the pregnancy of Victoria Anderson, 39.

The conduct and competence committee of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) in London said there had been "multiple failures" in Ms Rose's care.

Chairman Catherine Hinton said: "This is a case of serious professional misconduct, involving multiple failures of care and professional standards at all stages of the care of the patient, from the date of the retainer, when she failed to explain that she was not covered by indemnity insurance, her ante-natal care, her care during and after labour, and her conduct in the course of the subsequent investigations."

The committee heard that Mrs Anderson, of Storrington, West Sussex, needed reconstructive surgery after the uninsured midwife "randomly hacked" at her and her 12lb baby with a pair of scissors.

Ms Hinton said Ms Rose's failures "put at risk the health of the patient and her baby".

The committee found Ms Rose, an independent midwife, guilty of charges including failing to explain to the patient that she did not have and/or would not be able to obtain professional indemnity insurance, failing to make various records during the pregnancy, inducing labour when there was no clinical reason to do so, failing to take appropriate action during the labour, and failing to keep up to date with current midwifery practice.

The hearing was told that Mrs Anderson employed Ms Rose, of Brighton, who was not present or represented during the hearing, to deliver her third daughter at her home in September 2004.

She paid £3,000 for the home birth service because she lived some distance from the nearest hospital.

But she developed diabetes while pregnant and as a result baby Daisy had grown to 12lb inside her womb.

Mrs Anderson, who now has four daughters, told the hearing: "I got in the birthing pool but I was struggling to get the head out.

"I've got a history of having big babies so I asked Sue to cut me to get the baby out.

"She did cut me and I could see the head so I thought I was home and dry - but then nothing happened.

"I thought I would deliver the shoulders and Daisy would be out but suddenly Sue started to get stressed. She was sweating.

"Then she threw me across the room on to all fours and started cutting me with scissors. She cut me randomly and she just kept cutting. It was as if I was a piece of meat. I was shouting 'Get the baby out' and she literally just cut her out of me."

Mrs Anderson told the panel that her bowel was permanently damaged during the procedure and she has since had to have reconstructive surgery.

Daisy suffers from Erb's palsy, a condition which causes paralysis in the arm, because of the nerves being severed when she was born.