Coroner criticises action of midwife

A midwife dealing with a newborn baby struggling for life should have called for emergency assistance sooner, Christchurch coroner Richard McElrea has found.

Natalia Katarina Burns died on August 7, 2001, four days after her birth.

Mr McElrea found the infant was in poor health when born at Christchurch Women's Hospital, and that midwife Joanne Ryde should have called for expert paediatric assistance within seconds of Natalia's birth.

Natalia's appearance at birth was described by Ms Ryde and a student midwife who assisted her as "pinky purple".

However, Natalia's father said she looked "purply black" and her mother thought she was "blue".

"The baby's lack of respiratory effort and floppy appearance ... meant that it should have been immediately apparent that the baby was in poor condition," Mr McElrea said in findings released yesterday.

He said there was a delay of either 12 minutes, based on clinical notes, or six or seven minutes, going by Ms Ryde's estimates of time, before expert assistance was called for.

"The baby's already compromised state at birth was further crucially compromised as a result.'

The coroner said assistance should have been sought within 90 seconds.

He said the key issue was the assessment of the child's condition at birth and actions taken as a consequence.

Mr McElrea recommended the New Zealand College of Midwives take steps to ensure a trace scan be used, if available, when an abnormal heart rate was detected during a birth, and that midwives seek assistance without delay in circumstances similar to Natalia's birth.

- NZPA