Rejects accusations

Midwife on trial for gross negligence manslaughter

A home birth had been advised against in advance. Nevertheless, the midwife did not abandon the plan (symbolic image).

(Bild: stock.adobe.com/InsideCreativeHouse - stock.adob)

A midwife is to go on trial next Monday. She is alleged to have "failed to act as required" during the home birth. The newborn girl died five days later in a Viennese hospital after complications during the birth.

The public prosecutor's office considers her responsible for the death of the girl, who died in a Viennese hospital in September five days after giving birth. The accused had "disregarded the duty to act" in the context of the home birth. The midwife denies the accusations made against her and rejects them. If convicted, she faces up to three years in prison.

In the criminal complaint, the woman is accused of not complying with the provisions of the Midwives Act and corresponding recommendations when she carried out the home birth. This was "neither planned nor carried out lege artis". On the contrary, a home birth had already been advised against, as risks were to be expected during the birth process in the specific case. Although she was aware of these, the midwife did not abandon the planned home birth, according to the public prosecutor's accusation.

Complications: Child died from lack of oxygen
Complications did indeed occur during the birth. The midwife alerted the emergency doctor - from the prosecution's point of view, however, "the decision to transport the child to hospital for medical intervention was made neither in a timely nor appropriate manner", as stated in the criminal complaint. As a result, the delivered child died of cardiovascular failure "due to the consequences of a lack of oxygen during birth with resulting organ damage to the brain and internal organs as well as a condition following inhalation of meconium, as a further symptom of a lack of oxygen in the case of long-term pre-existing tissue damage to the placenta".

The defendant will plead "not guilty" in the trial, which will last several hours. She had recently emphasized that there had been no signs of possible complications during the pregnancy. All medical examinations in the run-up to the trial had not revealed any indications in this direction, the defendant claims. "We took immediate action, stopped the birth, then called the ambulance, informed the emergency doctor, informed the hospital that we were coming and drove to the hospital very quickly," said the accused in an ORF interview. Even a birth in a hospital could not have saved the baby.

Mother does not blame the accused
The mother of the deceased baby supports the accused. She does not blame her for the death of her daughter. The woman had opted for a home birth after a caesarean section during her first birth, as the caesarean section had been "a traumatic experience" for her.