Midwives told a woman with epilepsy that her baby would be born with breathing difficulties and said that she should give birth in an obstetric unit although she wanted a home birth.
What happened
Mrs F has epilepsy and takes medication for this. Her first baby was born at home. The baby briefly went into hospital but was discharged the same day. During her second pregnancy, midwives repeatedly advised Mrs F that she should give birth in an obstetric unit because of risks to her baby from her epilepsy medication. The midwives gave this advice without seeking information from a specialist consultant first. Mrs F was also told that her baby would be born 'barely breathing' because of her medication.
What we found
We partly upheld this complaint. There were some failings in the care Mrs F received.
The midwives did not support Mrs F's decision to have a home birth. They based their advice on incorrect assumptions about the risk posed by Mrs F's epilepsy medication. The delay in seeking the opinion of a consultant obstetrician was not good practice.
These failings meant that Mrs F was stressed during her pregnancy. Mrs F was also unsure about seeking midwifery care from the same midwife team for the birth of her third child, and so went elsewhere for this.
Putting it right
The Trust apologised to Mrs F for these failings. It prepared an action plan to avoid a recurrence, and reviewed its policies for women requesting care outside guidelines.
University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust
Cumbria
Did not apologise properly or do enough to put things right
Apology
Recommendation to learn lessons or draw up an action plan