Midwife tragically hangs herself after baby’s death
Theresa Naish dies before hospital tells her she wasn’t to blame
A midwife was found hanged before a hospital could tell her she wasn’t to blame for a baby’s death. Theresa Naish, 28, was scared she’d be struck off because she had failed to tell doctors that the premature baby had had a balloon placed in his throat during his mother’s pregnancy to help his lungs develop.
A colleague had been in charge of the baby boy but had gone to lunch, leaving Theresa, who had just started her shift, to cover. The balloon would have prevented the child from breathing, but the baby’s health was so poor he wouldn’t have survived anyway, Croydon Coroner’s Court heard.
After the incident, Theresa went on two weeks’ leave. She received voicemails asking her to come in to meet hospital managers, but they didn’t tell her that she wasn’t responsible for the death of the baby and wouldn’t be facing suspension.
Colleagues became concerned after not hearing from Theresa for a number of days and police forced their way into her flat in South London in January this year, where they found her hanged. She had been registered as a midwife for a year and had graduated a few weeks before her death.
If unborn babies’ lungs aren’t developing properly, a small balloon is inserted into the throat, but this must be removed before birth or the baby is unable to breathe. Senior midwife Linda Sherratt said, “We discovered that the baby would have stood a very minute chance of survival anyway because his condition was so bad, even if the balloon had been taken out. Theresa did amazingly well to get the mother into the labour ward as quickly as she did, and it was never the case that she’d be suspended. The very sad thing about this is that I never got a chance to speak to her.”
Theresa’s dad Thomas added, “I have spoken to lots of women Theresa cared for and delivered babies for, and they’ve all said she was incredible. All she ever wanted to do was look after people.”
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