KEY POINTS:
A midwife has been found guilty of professional misconduct, negligence and bringing discredit to her profession after she failed to run a test to assess the wellbeing of a fetus and arrived late to the birth of a child, which was stillborn.
Sharon Louise Robertson, registered midwife of
Auckland (formerly of Huntly), faced a Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal yesterday on a variety of charges over the way she handled the case of Huntly woman Aroha Little in 2004.
She has been censured and fined $2080, and directed to undergo a standards review and recertification, together with supervision and mentoring for a period of two years.
At 2.30am on November 19, 2004, Ms Little's due date of delivery, she had an unexpectedly stillborn baby girl, Angela-Marie.
An inexperienced midwife was left alone to handle the birth, while Ms Robertson made a journey of about 35km from Hamilton to Huntly.
It took her at least 90 minutes to make the trip, arriving at 2.30am.
According to facts outlined by counsel, at 12.45am Ms Robertson finished dealing with another patient at Waikato Hospital in Hamilton. She went home to wash, change her clothes and have a cup of coffee, and spent time looking for her cash card because her car was low on fuel.
While passing through Ngaruawahia on her way to Huntly, Ms Robertson had to call in to the home of a student midwife to collect Ms Little's antenatal records.
While at the student's house, she had another cup of coffee. She then left and went to a petrol station.
During this time Ms Robertson made no attempt to contact Birthcare in Huntly, or Ms Little, to inform them that her arrival would be delayed.
Meanwhile, the inexperienced midwife had trouble contacting a back-up midwife and a private one was eventually called in. But by this time there were complications, with thick meconium seen and little liquor.
The baby's airway had to be suctioned and after birth at 1.48am, the cord was cut. Resuscitation began, but at 2.15am no heart rate could be recorded and cyanosis (blue lips) was noted.
Jo Hughson, lawyer for the Director of Proceedings, said Ms Robertson had made no back-up arrangements for that day. Further, in the lead-up to the stillbirth, a history of Ms Little's previous births had not been adequately discussed or reviewed by Ms Robertson, despite previous notes being available.
Ms Little had a history of quick labours and in the final few weeks of her pregnancy she became concerned at a decreased number of fetal movements.
Despite this, a "kick chart" or cardiotocograph (CTG) was not put in place to assess fetal wellbeing.
"Ms Robertson's failure to make any contact with her client or Birthcare, and the unreasonably long time within which she took to arrive, was irresponsible, unfair to all concerned and demonstrated a complete neglect of her legal, ethical and professional obligations as a lead maternity care midwife," Ms Hughson said.
Beside grief caused to Ms Little and her wider family, the inexperienced midwife was placed in a "compromised and vulnerable position" and continued to have flashbacks of the event. She had not practised since.
Ms Robertson's lawyer, Dineen Wells, said her client had no prior incident record, and none since the event. She admitted her actions had fallen short of professional standards but was willing to do whatever it took to retain her career as a midwife.
Tribunal chairman Bruce Corkill said the failure to attend the birth in a timely manner, and to notify Birthcare and provide adequate information, together with a failure to run a CTG on November 19, amounted to negligence. It brought discredit to the profession and was sufficiently serious to warrant discipline.
However, he said the hearing was not asked to make findings over whether the actions caused or contributed to the stillbirth. "The charges do not relate to that matter."
