A midwife has been struck off after an unborn baby died in her care.

Sarah Puckrin, a midwife at St Peter’s Hospital in Spital Road, Maldon, was told she could no longer practise after she failed to transfer “Mother C” to Broomfield Hospital for an emergency caesarian on January 3 2016.

The incident led to the “highly emotive” death of the infant, named ‘Baby C’ on January 4.

A report from the Nursing and Midwifery Council gave accounts and statements from multiple witness, whose names were changed.

The report said: “It is considered that Miss Puckrin’s attitude in her care of Mother C was nothing short of disgraceful.

“Consequently, as the panel has found, the actions and omissions by Miss Puckrin resulted in a loss of opportunity to prevent the death of Baby C.

“Miss Puckrin’s failings were so serious as to amount to professional misconduct.”

Mother C was in labour with her first baby, and it was not “presenting” correctly so the mother could give birth.

In usual procedures, Mother C should have been transferred to Broomfield.

The baby’s heartbeat was found to have been irregular, however, despite finding this Miss Puckrin did not make clear notes of the issue.

Miss Puckrin said the “deficient” notes she compiled were because she had become “distracted” by a number of telephone calls on the ward.

The charge was one of three incidents considered by the panel, which heard that had Miss Puckrin acted within “trust guidelines”, the baby would not have passed away. Miss Puckrin’s lack of care was found by the panel to be the cause of the baby’s death.

The panel said it “was satisfied that the failure to escalate the suspected mal-presentation of Baby C” could have been prevented and could have saved the baby.

Miss Puckrin was sorry for her conduct, and said the issues had caused her great anxiety, however she stated that she believed her care of Mother C was “correct”.

She said: “I have reflected a lot and I am regretful that had I realised then the importance of record-keeping I would not be where I am now.

“This has not only affected me and my career but also my family.”

Miss Puckrin has been considered a “real risk” of repeating such misconduct and as a result will no longer practice as a midwife.

The panel added that it “remained concerned that Miss Puckrin has not demonstrated real insight or genuine remorse since these incidents”.

Mid Essex Hospital Trust chief nursing officer Diane Sarkar said: “Our maternity services have a very good reputation for the care and professional service they provide to their patients.

“In this case the conduct and care provided by this midwife, who has not worked for us for a number of years, was not of the standard we would expect from any member of our staff and we fully support the NMC’s findings and judgement.”