A mother who was told by two midwives not to give her newborn baby his medication broke down in tears as she demanded an apology for her dead son.
Andrea Street, 34, and Jennifer Ansell, 39, told the new mum - a research doctor known as 'Dr B' - it was not necessary to feed her baby boy vital antibiotics, the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) was told.
But the tot's body could not fight off an umbilical cord infection and he died just two days after leaving the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton in January 2006.
It is claimed midwife Street and community midwife Ansell, both employed by Brighton and Sussex University Hospital NHS Trust, failed to properly care for the infant, referred to as Baby L.
The hearing was told that the pair showed “no remorse” at an inquest into the baby’s death.
Dr B said: “At the inquest, neither of these two women showed any remorse. They never said they were sorry.
“I wanted an apology and accountability for my son.
“I understand they didn’t mean to do what they did, but they did, and my son died and our lives have been destroyed.”
Clare Strickland for the NMC said Baby L had been prescribed antibiotics by a hospital doctor after he developed a suspected umbilical cord infection a few hours after birth.
But the hearing was told Street told the mother on leaving the hospital she did not need to give them.
The mother took her baby son home and put the unopened medication in the fridge.
When community midwife Ansell visited mother and baby at home the following day, Dr B raised the issue of antibiotics again.
Ansell told Dr B the hospital had been too cautious and not to worry about giving them, it was said.
Miss Strickland said: “Having found out about this unusual position, if she was not sure, she should have checked with medical staff and the hospital and should certainly have checked the medication and the dosage.
“Whether this would have made a difference to his outcome, this can never be answered”
Dr B thought everything was fine until Baby L gradually deteriorated and died on January 30, two days after leaving hospital.
It was not until the coroner asked if her son had been prescribed any antibiotics that Dr B realised he could have been saved.
She said: “The coroner's officer called and said the pathologist wants to know whether he was given antibiotics.
“I was hysterical, because of course we had the antibiotics in the fridge. I was shouting 'they told me not to give them'.”
Dr B said she was ignored by the Brighton and Sussex University Hospital NHS Trust when she complained so she referred the case to the Nursing and Midwifery Council.
The NMC claim hospital midwife Street and community midwife Ansell, both employed by Brighton and Sussex University Hospital NHS Trust, failed to properly care for the newborn.
Street, from Wick, Littlehampton, West Sussex, and Maria Ansell, of Shoreham-By-Sea, West Sussex, both deny failing to provide adequate care.
The hearing continues
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