I thought mother who had seizures in labour was just hypnobirthing, midwife tells inquest

A midwife who cared for a colleague during a labour that went wrong said she had not been concerned about her condition because it looked like she was using hypnobirthing techniques, an inquest heard.

Robyn Davis has accused her former colleagues of negligence over the death of her newborn son, Orlando, claiming that she “never felt safe” when her concerns that her labour was going wrong were repeatedly brushed aside during her home birth.

It was heard that Mrs Davis, a trained midwife, did not have hypnobirthing in her birth plan, a method that combines breathing and relaxation techniques designed to help mothers feel calmer during labour.

However, Gillian Goodwin, one of the midwives who cared for Mrs Davis, said her behaviour was similar to mothers who used hypnobirthing and she did not think she was in difficulty.

Mrs Davis, who had been assessed as having a low-risk pregnancy, ended up having to be rushed to hospital by ambulance. She suffered seizures that led to her being placed in a coma.

The previously healthy baby boy died two weeks after being born by emergency caesarean section on September 10 2021.

It has been alleged there was a failure to monitor the “fluid consumption and urine output” of Mrs Davis during labour.

Orlando was the second child of graphic designer Jonny Davis, 30, and 28-year-old Mrs Davis, of Steyning, West Sussex, who have since had another baby.

At Chichester Coroner’s Court in Wiltshire, Ms Goodwin, who has worked as a midwife for 17 years, said she arrived at the Davis household at around 5pm on September 9 2021.

Throughout the early stages, she said Mrs Davis was “acting like a normal person in labour”.

However, as the labour went on with little progress, Mrs Davis “became demoralised” until the situation deteriorated and it was decided she should be transferred to hospital.

Mrs Davis said her concerns about the baby’s position and fluid consumption were ignored.

The hearing was told Mrs Davis was “blue-lighted” via ambulance to Worthing Hospital, West Sussex, but nobody was waiting for them when they arrived.

Ms Goodwin said she had to go inside and fetch members of staff to start treating Mrs Davis.

She said that during the labour, she had been worried about baby Orlando’s heart rate.

“I was just really concerned the baby was not very happy and I didn’t know why,” she said.

When asked what hypnobirthing was, Ms Goodwin said: “It is a technique that some women choose to use to help through the process of giving birth.”

Ms Goodwin told the hearing she had looked through Mrs Davis’s birth plan, where there was no mention of using the technique.

“It doesn’t say specifically that she wants to hypnobirth,” she said.

However, she added: “She was acting like somebody who was hypnobirthing. It’s all about the breathing technique.”

She insisted she hadn’t told a fellow midwife that Mrs Davis was using the technique during a handover of her care at the hospital.

Despite this, the inquest previously heard the midwife told a dazed Mrs Davis she was sorry and felt as if it was her fault when she woke up “because I just thought you were hypnobirthing”.

The inquest, which is expected to last another three days, continues.