Shropshire midwife admits care 'completely unacceptable'

None of the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust workers is accused of causing the death of the baby

A midwife has admitted aspects of the care she gave a mother and her baby who died were "completely unacceptable".

Laura Jones, Hayley Lacey and Kerry Davies are appearing before the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) following the boy's death in Telford in 2015.

Giving evidence, Ms Jones said she was "devastated" the standard of care was not "as good as it should have been".

None of the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust workers is accused of causing the death of the infant.

The panel, which reconvened on Monday, is examining the care they provided and will decide whether their fitness to practise was impaired and whether any action should be taken.

The child, known as Baby K, died four days after being born at Telford's Princess Royal Hospital on 19 August 2015.

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At a previous hearing, the panel found Ms Jones and Ms Lacey did not communicate enough to ensure the mother's continuous care and some misconduct charges were proven.

Ms Jones said: "Poor handover meant that observations were missed - obviously that was completely unacceptable and should never have happened.

"I've thought about what I can do so I can make sure it doesn't happen again and so another family doesn't have to go through what Baby K's family went through."

She said since the boy's death the midwives had been involved in trying to make changes to improve care at the trust, including to handovers and staff schedules.

Ms Davies previously admitted she should have checked the baby's heart rate before birth but denies misconduct.

Giving evidence, she described the death as having "a massive impact" on her.

She said if the same circumstance occurred again she would "stop" and check exactly what was wanted of her.

The case has come from a direct referral to the NMC and is amid a review of maternity care at the trust, where more than 250 families have come forward with concerns.

The hearing is due to conclude on Friday.