Nursing and midwifery council investigates Narberth midwife (From Western Telegraph)

Nursing and midwifery council investigates Narberth midwife

11:30am Tuesday 9th December 2008 in

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A new mother died after her midwife failed to spot signs of an infection, a misconduct hearing was told yesterday.

Lucy Jane Godwin, a 52 year-old registered nurse and midwife from Narberth, is charged with failing to adequately monitor the labour of a patient and failing to provide an adequate standard of care for a patient who was in established labour.

The nursing and midwifery council hearing, which began yesterday (Monday), heard that a 23-year-old woman, known only as patient A, had a high pulse rate, was hot, flushed, had a tender abdomen and was suffering from shivers, and not producing breast milk when she was visited by Ms Godwin at her home four days after giving birth.

The hearing was told that Ms Godwin, who was working as a community midwife for Pembrokeshire and Derwen NHS Trust at the time, and had 26 years experience, told the patient she had a virus and to contact her GP if she felt any worse.

The woman died of multiple organ failure after being admitted to hospital in the early hours of the following day, August 9th, 2005.

It is alleged that Ms Godwin failed to act upon the fact that Patient A was displaying symptoms consistent with a post-birth infection and/or sepsis.

In a statement Ms Godwin said other midwives who visited Patient A on two previous days, and the doctor who visited her later, did not notice the symptoms either.

It was also alleged that in July 2006 Ms Godwin failed to adequately monitor the labour of a high risk patient, and failed to recognise that another high risk patient was in labour.

She was brought before a conduct and competence committee in Cardiff, which is expected to conclude tomorrow (Wednesday).