Midwife 'made mother feel like she was dying' (From Watford Observer)

Midwife 'made mother feel like she was dying'

10:25am Tuesday 15th May 2007 in

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A MIDWIFE who pulled so hard on a mother's umbilical cord that she screamed in agony and feared she would die was this week found guilty of misconduct.

A hearing was told this week that Cecelia Kituma, a midwife working at Watford General, was so rough with the mother during a lengthy labour, she caused her to cry in pain and beg her not to hurt her.

However, the court heard Kituma continued to pull at the umbilical cord with such force that the mother, identified only as Mrs D, jerked back as she was pulled down the bed.

Mrs D told the hearing of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), held at the Old Bailey, that she feared she would die during her ordeal.

She told the NMC on Tuesday: "She began pulling with such force her elbow kept jerking back.

"As she did I was being pulled down the bed and I kept saying to her please don't hurt me any more'."

Sobbing Mrs D added: "I remember looking at my husband and my daughter and I kept saying in my head please don't take me away from them'. I thought I was dying."

Mrs D said her husband was so concerned by the "look of terror" on her face he asked Kituma what she was doing.

"She said I'm trying to get that placenta out' and he said can't you see she's in pain?' "She seemed to take offence about that comment and walked out of the room in what I would describe as a huff.

"The pain of having the cord pulled was the most excruciating pain."

Mrs D, who gave birth to a healthy baby girl in the early hours of January 22, 2004, also said Kituma spent a long time stitching her after the birth but couldn't stem the bleeding.

When Mrs D was discharged from hospital she was severely anaemic, developed a blood infection and later required corrective surgery.

Mrs D, a clinical physiologist, later made a formal complaint and the NMC heard Kituma took her hospital records without permission and left them on a train.

Kituma, 46, who was employed by Watford General through an agency insisted that by pulling the umbilical cord she was merely employing a tactic of "active management" during a difficult labour.

She admitted leaving the confidential documents on a train, but denied taking them.

She said: "I don't believe that I used excessive force as patient D's husband says to the point that I pulled the patient down the bed.

"The lady should weigh more than 50kg. If I pulled her to that degree the cord would have snapped."

Kituma, of Neasden, north London, also denied hearing Mrs D screaming in pain and begging her to stop.

She told the hearing she had delivered more than 100 babies since qualifying in 1998 and had used the same techniques before. She also denied failing to see Mrs D was haemorrhaging and estimated she lost 400mls of blood rather than the two units her patient is thought to have lost.

Yesterday (Thursday) the NMC found Kituma guilty of misconduct and ruled her fitness to practise was impaired. The panel is now considering what sanction to impose on her registration.