By Sarah Robinson

Published at 11:09, Thursday, 14 June 2012

A YOUNG mother feared that her newborn daughter was going to die after falling out of a cot onto a concrete floor at West Cumberland Hospital.

MY BRIGHT GIRL: Alisha now, with mum Selina and Selina’s partner Gary Jenkinson.

Speaking exclusively to The Whitehaven News, Selina Peckham says she thought her daughter Alisha, who was just hours old, was “a goner”.

Alisha fell face-down onto the floor after the cot, being pushed by midwife Diana Warwick, toppled over. The baby suffered bruising to her forehead.

Selina said: “Alisha didn’t have any broken bones but she had a bump the size of an egg on her head. The hospital staff said it was good that she had cried at the time, but I was so worried about what could have happened.

“I didn’t sleep for about a week. She was so quiet. I didn’t want to wake up and find I had lost her. I would stay awake for hours to check if she was still breathing.”

Miss Warwick – dubbed Britain’s worst midwife by national newspapers – was officially struck off last week, after being found guilty by the Nursing and Midwifery Council of 35 charges, including allowing a baby to fall from a cot in September 2005.

Alisha, who is now six, is described by Selina as a “bright girl” who has not had any lasting injuries caused by the fall.

The family has made an official complaint to the North Cumbria University Hospitals Trust following the start of coverage of Miss Warwick’s case in the press last year. There is also a potential negligence claim against the Trust.

Selina says that several hours after her daughter’s birth, Miss Warwick had taken Alisha to have a heel-prick test. On returning to the ward, she said the midwife opened the double doors and walked backwards with Alisha in the cot.

“She [Miss Warwick] was coming through the double doors. She was busy talking to someone. She grabbed the top of the cot box rather than using the metal handles. The cot toppled over and Alisha fell onto the floor.

“I was screaming hysterically. They tried to calm me down and midwives rushed over to Alisha. The midwife tried to speak to me, but I had some choice words for her. I thought that was it. I thought Alisha was a goner. She fell onto a concrete floor. She was very cold. They put her under one of the heat lamps.

“She didn’t feed for two or three days and I think that’s because she was distressed.”

Following the incident, Selina told her mother, who subsequently suffered a heart attack and had to be treated at West Cumberland Hospital.

Selina said: “I was never told that the midwife wasn’t fully trained. I work as a carer and I know that if you’re not fully trained, you need to be supervised. They told me that she [Miss Warwick] had been asked to leave the hospital. I didn’t see her again.”

Selina and her partner Gary Jenkinson were unaware that Miss Warwick had been allowed to carry on working at the hospital until reports came out of her hearing last year. This included details of Alisha falling out of the cot while in the midwife’s care.

Selina said: “I was annoyed and upset that they had not contacted me when that charge involved my child. She [Miss Warwick] should never have been allowed back into the hospital after what happened with Alisha.”

The family have asked for Alisha’s medical records, which the Trust says have “gone amiss”.

Alisha now attends Seascale Primary School and is involved in a host of activities including attending Rainbow classes and swimming lessons.

Selina said: “Alisha is very bright. She is a very playful and helpful girl. She knows if there’s something wrong. She loves arts and crafts and she enjoys taking part in after school activities whenever she can.”

A spokesperson for the North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust said: “The Trust appreciates that this is an upsetting time for the Peckham family. We cannot make any further comment due to patient confidentiality but we can confirm that we are in contact with the family.”

Published by http://www.whitehavennews.co.uk