A midwife involved in the delivery of a baby who died a week after birth said she “misplaced trust” in doctors she raised concerns with, an inquest into the fatal accident has heard.

Freya Murphy died on July 28, 2018, in the neonatal intensive care unit at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow, seven days after she was born in the maternity unit, the inquest at Glasgow Sheriff Court heard.

Her mother Karen Murphy, 32, was admitted to QEUH on July 20 with her pregnancy trace changed from green to red, indicating the level of risk had increased, the inquest heard.

Mrs Murphy, a teacher from Cambuslang, South Lanarkshire, was told to ‘push’ at around 6.30am on July 21 but needed assistance with ‘weak’ contractions and a cardiotocograph (CTG) showed ‘profound deceleration’ of the fetal heart rate, the judgment heard.

Freya was born covered in “large amounts of thick meconium” and was given CPR, but died a week later. A post-mortem examination indicated the cause of her death as global hypoxic ischemic brain injury associated with acute chorioamnionitis.

The Murphys have questioned why Britain is not routinely testing for group B strep, described as the “likely” cause of the infection by neonatal expert Dr Michael Munro.

A midwife who helped deliver Freya said she was given no written notes and was unaware that Ms Murphy had experienced “low fetal movements” or that meconium had been spotted on a maternity pad, the investigation said.

Giving evidence, midwife Helen Kidd said Ms Murphy’s contractions did not improve with an IV drip, although the dose was increased, and in a contemporaneous note written after the birth, Ms Kidd claimed she was “not listened to” by doctors.

Ms Kidd’s lawyer, Taylor Muir, said: “Did you know at that time that Freya and Ms Murphy were infected with group B strep?”

Mrs Kidd, 58, said: “No, we tested his urine to check for infection but there was nothing.”

Her written evidence said that at 8.20am she raised her concerns with Dr Felicity Watson, but when asked by Mr Muir “if she took you seriously”, Ms Kidd said: “No”.

Mr Muir asked if Dr Marianne Ledingham “took you seriously” at 8.45am.

Mrs Kidd said: “No. I trusted her. I thought it was because the ward was very busy. What I do know is that the IV didn’t work for Mrs. Murphy as it should have and I felt something else was going on.

“Dr. Watson didn’t listen when I tried to tell him about the contractions, I was falsely reassured. I felt like when I asked for help, it was like I was wrong and they were right. I trusted them wrongly. I suffered a lot since then, it ruined my career.”

Mr Muir said: “Have you communicated your concerns to Dr Watson and Dr Ledingham?”

Mrs Kidd said: “Yes. I did the best I could with the information I had. In hindsight, I would have done it very differently.”

She said the delivery was not “routine” and added: “I had never seen such a visible baby that had been there for so long.”

Ms Kidd said at 8.41am she shouted down the corridor as a “prolonged deep deceleration” took place and seven minutes later Dr Ledingham arrived but left to attend to another patient, they heard investigate.

The midwife said just before 9am she stopped the IV drip because of concerns and rang a bell for help, but the drip was restarted by doctors, the court heard.

Lawyer for the Murphys, Alan Rodgers, said: “I just want to be clear about your position – between 8.15 and 9.15 you told us you were concerned. These notes could form a view that you thought this CTG was absolutely fine.”

Ms Kidd said: “I think I was wrongly reassured by each doctor’s expert opinion that the CTG was acceptable.”

Mr Rodgers said: “Would it be fair to say that these notes reflect the view of the medical staff?”

Ms Kidd said: “It reflects the advice I was given. It is common to see decelerations during contractions. Her contractions were so weak they would go right back to nothing.

“They weren’t expellers, they weren’t efficient. I didn’t understand why it happened.”

Mr Rodgers said an internal review found that at around 8.20am the CTG was “pathological and required urgent medical review”, the inquest heard.

Claire Raftery, cross-examining Dr Ledingham, said Ms Kidd “added” notes on July 22, the day after Freya was born.

Ms Kidd said: “I was so traumatized I didn’t have time to take notes, the next day I could write anything.”

FAI continues before Sheriff Barry Divers.

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