KEY POINTS:
A midwife gave an inadequate standard of care to a 23-year-old woman whose baby was stillborn, the Health and Disbility Commission has ruled.
The commission said the midwife's clinical documentation, information given, assessment and care were all inadequate.
It ordered that the unnamed midwife be disciplined and also recommended changes to the way midwives wrote up clinical records after events.
The commission said that in the last month of her pregnancy, the woman went to hospital with concerns about fetal movement and blood pressure.
The midwife had trouble finding the baby's heart rate, but when she found it, it appeared normal and the woman was discharged from hospital when her blood pressure normalised.
Two days later the woman returned to hospital.
Despite a history of abdominal pain the woman was discharged after being given a pain relief drug.
Later that day the woman returned to hospital, in labour.
She gave birth to a stillborn boy.
A pathology report estimated the baby had died 24 hours before its birth.
The commission said the midwife "failed to take appropriate action in relation to reports of significant pain, bleeding and reduced fetal movement".
- NZPA
