to be confused by newborn suffocating during breastfeed? :(

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www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/06/28/parents-suing-nhs-newborn-suffocated-breast-feed-due-negligent/

Would like to get other people's views on this situation? As someone who has breastfed, I'm really confused and saddened by this situation. However, I'm not convinced the midwife is to blame either

They're seeking to blame someone else for a tragedy. They've educated and intelligent people. They can't argue that they don't realise that breathing is important while feeding.

This is not negligence and, if this were a message women needed to be told, there would be thousands of smothered babies. But there aren't.

I hate them for doing this to a cash strapped NHS.

we have all read on MN stories of MW shoving the breast in the baby's mouth and walking away.

This, and the shocking aftercare, and lack of sleep or privacy on noisy, hot, visitor filled wards.

It's a terribly sad case but some of the stories on here about lack of postnatal support that women have (medically after injuries, emotionally after traumatic deliveries, etc, practical on the wards), it's terrifying.

This is a very sad story, but it's common sense to not cover your baby's airway - I don't understand why they think a midwife should have explicitly told them this.

And I suspect this is less about the money and more about wanting this to be someone else's fault

They are bereaved parents have some empathy & compassion before you berate them
Do not call a bereaved mother names
There will be counter arguments too but do not guess what you don’t know

@NotUmbongoUnchained Yep I agree but I think in a strained environment, it's difficult to do your job to the best of your ability. The mother definitely needed more support than she got, but I just feel like she should have known the very basics about the baby's airway.

My MW couldn't have been less interested in helping me with the first breastfeed (and I was in a hospital that had won awards for breastfeeding) so I can easily believe a MW said they would come back and didn't; and that their advice could have been half-hearted and inaccurate. But, I still don't think this is the MW's fault.

I am not sure this thread is supportive or helpful in any way.

we have all read on MN stories of MW shoving the breast in the baby's mouth and walking away.

But you don't hold your baby so tightly they can't move away and suffocate. That is not the midwife's fault.

The ward I gave birth on was so understaffed that my midwife had 4 other mothers to tend too. She still stuck around for the first feed to make sure it happened safely because that’s her job!

And what if one of those mothers was crowning? Should she still hang around to watch you feed? My midwife was around until DD was latched and then left us. I knew not to suffocate my baby.

I have huge boobs. My midwife after my first told me that babies find cracks of air in response to MY concerns about my baby breathing while feeding.

This case made my blood run cold because I did not question that the midwife was wrong. I even repeated what the midwife said to my mother who was concerned when I breast fed.

Romeo,really you should be ashamed of yourself that disgusting comment
Reported

Tragic story but I imagine this is parents trying to deal with the guilt they feel for an awful incident that was probably not anyone's fault. I always believed that it was very difficult for a newborn to suffocate at the breast - because they'd pull away, as mentioned, but also the shape of the nose and nostrils are 'designed' to prevent this.

The midwifes job doesn’t end with delivery though. There is so much other stuff to do paperwork wise etc that you just don’t always have the time to sit and observe the whole of the first feed.

Whether we believe this could happen or not, why are people doubting that she has a genuine belief that this was a cause? People whose children are profoundly disabled from early life often look for a reason, either in pregnancy, genetics, during and after birth...sometimes a reason cannot be found and you have these little clues that could be something or nothing, something on a scan, whatever. This couple said they recall the baby going floppy during a feed and after that nothing was the same. Why are people doubting that this is what they feel happened?

I do t think it’s anyone’s fault. It was a terrible accident. But having myself had a 47 hour labour, drugged up to my eyeballs and exhausted, I can very easily see how this could happen and so should have the midwife

*before you get allocated your next patient.

And my first has additional needs so this is another thing to feel guilty about.

@plantlover yes! My friend how has huge boobs was told that she would not suffocate her baby and not to worry.

It sounds to me like just another example of terrible postnatal care.

You can go to all the antenatal classes you want but in those first few hours after birth where you're exhausted and shocked it goes out the window and you need proper help and support.

I don't blame the midwives as they're stretched and under pressure, but I do think the system needs an overhaul. Every time I hear one of these stories I shudder because I think back to how out of it I was after DD's birth and think I'm lucky something like that could have happened to us.

When my dd was 2 weeks old I was breastfeeding her on the sofa one afternoon. I was holding her in the way breastfeeding tends to be depicted and had my hand on her back. I was watching tv. I then noticed that her back felt funny. When I looked down my breast was completely smothering her face. Had I fallen asleep she would have died. It sounds silly now but I remember being really annoyed with her that she didn't even try and struggle (no kicks/wriggling etc).

I'm sympathetic to the family, but surely it is common sense to ensure the nose is free? In my situation it was my fault, I wasn't paying attention and she or I must have moved slightly. It would be lovely if a midwife could sit with a new mother and help with the first breast feed or bottle feed, but unfortunately it cannot happen.

I do feel for the midwife. Also for the little girl, of course. All very perplexing.

The only thing/person to blame here is the shocking understaffing in the nhs.

Have a little empathy people. Those poor parents.

The only thing/person to blame here is the shocking understaffing in the nhs.

How do you know this? Have you heard all the evidence in the case?

The cause of Cerys’ oxygen starvation was probably a “random post-natal sudden collapse” which could not have been foreseen and in which negligence played no part, he told the court.

A tragic case, but the scenario above does sound more likely. Surely a healthy infant would pull away if they couldn’t breath? It’s something that did cross my mind when I was feeding but surely if this was a thing that could happen rather than a freak incident there would be more awareness?

We’re only guessing there was understaffing or poor post natal care, based on the claim the midwife was negligent. There is no reason to think either case is true. Maybe it just happened.