Midwife who left pregnant mother and baby to die when shift ended gets three month suspension

Rebecca Matovu went home after her shift ended leaving a pregnant mum and her unborn baby to die.

17:44 19 September 2014

Rebecca Matovu, the midwife who left a pregnant mum and her unborn baby after her shift has ended despite her family begging for assistance, has been suspended for three months. The mother and baby both died. 

According to reports, the senior midwife chose not to help ailing Sareena Ali, 27, despite desperate pleas from her family that she was in agony at Queen’s Hospital in Essex. Instead of helping efforts when Mrs Ali was ‘cold and unresponsive’, she went home.

Clive Powell, chairing the NMC panel, said: "By ignoring the pleas for help that were made by the patient's husband, Ms Matovu failed to listen to the people in her care and this is especially serious given that she was acting as midwife in charge.

"This demonstrated a failure to act kindly and considerately.

"Further, it should have been abundantly clear to Ms Matovu that the actions of her team were placing the patient at risk and yet she took no action.

"Moreover, Ms Matovu is an experienced midwife who should have been able to recognise the signs that a serious situation was unfolding before her.

"It is agreed that Ms Matovu should have recognised that an emergency situation had arisen given that she was personally asked to call the crash team.

"As a midwife in charge, even if she had formally ended her shift, it was imperative that Ms Matovu assisted her colleagues and sought to find out whether her skills were required."