A MIDWIFE has brought a High Court challenge to a recommendation by the Nursing Board that she should be admonished over the care she provided to a mother during the delivery of her baby which later died.
While there is no allegation that the care of midwife Irene Brennan contributed to the child’s death, the board’s fitness to practise committee found Ms Brennan guilty of professional misconduct in relation to how she dealt with the mother.
It found Ms Brennan gave undue precedence to a birth plan provided by the mother, while failing to address the care she should have given to the woman, who had associated risk factors.
Ms Brennan, of Oylegate, Enniscorthy, Wexford, claims a decision by the board on February 12th last to confirm the committee’s admonishment was flawed because the committee’s decision was flawed.
The committee failed to provide sufficient reasons for its findings in circumstances where there was an obvious conflict of evidence between experts and other witnesses in the hearing, she claims.
The committee had not found there was a “serious” falling short of the standard of care expected under which she was being judged, it is alleged.
The board had never notified this standard of care to the profession of midwives generally or through its guidelines for nurses and midwives, and this was a breach of fair procedures and natural justice, Ms Brennan claims.
She is seeking an order to cancel the decision to admonish her and require her to undergo retraining on note taking and use of a foetal monitoring device.
The court heard yesterday the pregnant woman was admitted to Wexford General Hospital in February 2004 at 4am and her baby was born by assisted delivery 11 hours later. The child was in some distress and was transferred to Waterford General’s intensive care unit and subsequently died.
The hearing before Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne continues.