Baby Suffers ‘catastrophic’ Haemorrhage As Lying Midwife Fails To Administer Vitamins
Shadae Mullard, an on-call midwife at Liverpool Women’s Hospital’s home birth team, failed to administer vitamin K to a newborn. The panel found that Ms Mullard had tried to hide her misconduct, which compromised the care of vulnerable patients.
Shadae Mullard has been struck off from the nursing registerA newborn suffered a “catastrophic” haemorrhage after a nurse failed to administer essential vitamins following a home birth. Shadae Mullard, an on-call midwife with Liverpool Women’s Hospital’s home birth team, misled her colleagues about failing to provide the crucial vitamins to the infant in 2021, resulting in the baby’s hospitalisation.
During a Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) fitness to practise hearing, it was revealed that when new parents requested Ms Mullard’s assistance for a home birth in May three years ago, she arrived post-delivery of baby A. Following the hearing, which wrapped up earlier this month, a report disclosed that Ms Mullard had falsely claimed she administered vitamin K to baby A, despite no evidence or witness confirmation.
One month on, the baby was rushed to a specialist paediatric hospital presenting symptoms like vomiting, a limp left arm, and eye rolling. A CT scan uncovered a severe intracranial haemorrhage, and tests indicated a critical vitamin K deficiency.
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Ms Mullard has now been removed from the nursing register after her cover-up attempts came to light. The report also mentioned that a colleague visited the mother of baby A on May 21, the day of the birth, to conduct standard examinations and postnatal checks. The administration of vitamin K had not been documented, and the parents could not recall seeing this being done or being told by Ms Mullard that she had completed it, reports the Liverpool Echo.
Baby A was admitted to hospital a month later, where her clotting parameters normalised after receiving the necessary vitamins. This led to a diagnosis of late haemorrhagic disease of the newborn (HDN). Safeguarding teams were also informed there was no record of vitamin K being administered in baby A’s personal child health record, known as a red book.
Ms Mullard, who now works as an events manager at a hotel, was informed on June 2 that the newborn had been admitted to hospital. She claimed that, to the best of her recollection, the vitamin had been given to baby A on the day – this was not true.
The former midwife then made a retrospective entry in the child’s baby record, falsely stating that vitamins had been administered on May 1. During an investigation launched by the Liverpool Women’s NHS Foundation Trust, a consultant paediatric haematologist stated “there was less than one percent likelihood of baby A receiving vitamin K”.
Baby A’s condition improved after the administration of vitamins following the emergency admission to hospital in June. Ms Mullard was suspended from the hospital in September 2021 and sacked with immediate effect in January 2022.
Her colleague expressed betrayal, feeling Ms Mullard had “lied to her face” ( Image:
Liverpool Echo) The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) panel labelled Ms Mullard’s accounts as “inconsistent” and held the opinion that she was aware she hadn’t administered vitamin K to a newborn while misleading her colleagues and retrospectively altering records. The report documented: “You knew full well that you had not administered vitamin K to baby A, and could find no innocent explanation for your lies to colleagues and in clinical records.”
Ms Mullard admitted failing to arrange blood samples for someone known as patient F after being suspended due to lack of time. She falsely assured a colleague the task had been done. Explaining her failure, the ex-midwife cited “due to a combination of a busy night” mingled with her suspension as reasons. Her colleague expressed betrayal, feeling Ms Mullard had “lied to her face”.
At the hearing, advocate Alastair Kennedy, representing the NMC, discussed the grave implications of not giving vitamin K to baby A. The tribunal, comprised of three members, deduced Ms Mullard’s cover-up efforts involved a “deceitful” pathway peppered with continuous falsehoods including fake entries on medical records.
The report summed up: “The panel considered that these actions were particularly serious and other members of your profession would find them deplorable.”
Consequently, Ms Mullard’s behaviour was tantamount to severe professional misconduct, warranting disciplinary measures.
The panel found that Ms Mullard had tried to hide her misconduct, which compromised the care of vulnerable patients and caused actual harm to baby A. They also discovered that her behaviour was part of a long-term pattern of deception, involving repeatedly lying to colleagues over time.
Consequently, they decided that removing her from the register was the only punishment severe enough to protect the public and serve the wider public interest.
