A midwife who appeared on One Born Every Minute allegedly had an affair with a man whose partner she cared for during childbirth.
Joanne Lumsden, who worked at Liverpool Women’s Hospital when she featured on the reality show, is understood to have delivered hundreds of babies, but in this one instance failed to declare a conflict of interest.
The mum, who has asked not to be identified, has said she is now ‘haunted’ by the thought of Lumsden holding her daughter, knowing now that she had an affair with the baby’s father.
According to the Liverpool Echo, the baby’s father went on a ‘lad’s holiday’ to Benidorm shortly after the mother discovered she was pregnant, and it was there that the father reportedly met Ms Lumsden.
When he returned from the trip, the mother reported how he started acting ‘strangely’ and would routinely miss scans.
Last year, the mother was admitted to hospital for a planned C-section, but the father missed the birth of the child, which the mother reckons is because he was worried about his affair being exposed.
The mother told the Liverpool Echo:
As a mum who was looking forward to the birth of her last baby, I was subjected to the most horrific ordeal any mother to be could ever imagine.
As any woman about to give birth to their baby would understand, I put my utmost trust and confidence into the hands of a midwife who I thought was a medical professional with mine and my daughter’s best interests at heart.
This has amounted to the destruction of a family. Ms Lumsden chose to ignore a series of opportunities to declare the conflict of interest in the many months, weeks and days leading up to the birth of my daughter. Instead she took matters into her own hands and made sure she was present that day.
She continued:
As a woman, I am now left with a life-long memory of the midwife holding my new-born baby in her arms with the knowledge that she was having sexual relations with my baby’s father during my pregnancy and being fully aware that I was under the care of her place of work.
This will haunt me for as long as I live. This woman held my baby in her arms knowing that she had engaged in recent sexual activity with her father.
The mother made an official complaint to the Women’s Hospital trust, and Ms Lumsden is facing disciplinary action.
The day after the baby’s birth, the mother claims that Ms Lumsden even revealed she met her partner in Benidorm, and claimed to have ‘rubbed suncream’ into his back.
A week later, when a community midwife visited the mother’s home, the mother claims that she broke down in tears and told her what had happened.
The mother claims that Ms Lumsden later phoned her to talk about the affair.
Ms Lumsden no longer works at the hospital, and the community midwife is reportedly also the subject of disciplinary proceedings, though the extent of such proceedings is not know.
The hospital trust have apologised for her ordeal, and have informed her that the complaint was upheld.
A spokesperson for Liverpool Women’s Hospital Trust said:
Whilst we cannot discuss the detail of individual cases due to patient confidentiality, we can confirm that disciplinary proceedings were undertaken by the Trust as a result of two members of staff’s conduct.
The Trust took this action immediately upon being made aware of the incident and an internal investigation was also conducted.
The disciplinary process undertaken with the members of staff involved is now being dealt with by the Nursing and Midwifery Council.
The patient also made a formal complaint to the Trust and we have been in regular communication with them throughout the complaints process.
We would like to apologise for the upset caused to the patient as a result of their experience.
Ms Lumsden has not responded to the Liverpool Echo’s requests for comment.
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