It's a midwife horror story. But real.

This poor mum and what she had to go through.

A midwife failed a young teenage mother when she was supposed to be assisting her with the birth, a tribunal hearing has found. The woman giving birth suffered awful vaginal tears during her labour and yet she was told she was fine.

The Human Rights Review Tribunal in New Zealand heard that nurse, Natasha Thomson, had failed her responsibility as a midwife, turning up to the patient’s house six minutes after the woman gave birth even though she’d had five phone calls in an hour from the woman in labour who told her that she was in a lot of pain.

The incident occurred on January 15, 2012.

The report found that Ms Thompson hadn't provided a proper birth plan for the mother-to-be and had not provided enough information about how to look after a newborn. It also found that the midwife gave no assistance when the young mum was having trouble breastfeeding.

The tribunal said that Ms Thompson laughed when the mum told her that she had to tie her legs together with a dressing gown to relieve the pain. And Natasha Thompson didn't refer her to a doctor, which she should have.

The tribunal wrote that during the labour Ms Thompson received many urgent calls from the woman, the woman's husband and her mother but brushed them off saying that teenage mothers can panic sometimes at the beginning of labour.

The patient is called 'Ms B' in the tribunal documents. It was noted that 'Ms B' gave birth while on her hands and knees in the bathroom. On examination of her perineum, Ms Thompson told 'Ms B' that she did have a tear, but it was nothing major.

Ms Thompson dismissed the tear as insignificant, saying that it was only tiny. She told the mum that she should keep her legs together, change pads regularly and to be 'ladylike'.

The midwife did not bring scissors to cut the umbilical chord at the birth, and so had to opt for kitchen scissors that were found by the mum's partner.

The tribunal wrote that she did not tell the young parents how to care for the tear, which the mum later had to be admitted to hospital because it got infected. It got so bad that 'Ms B' nearly couldn't walk due to the excruciating pain she was in.

The patient found it extremely painful to go to the toilet and said that she could feel it open when she walked. She even tried making a tube to stop the urine from getting on to her tear because she couldn't stand the pain.

Ms Thompson told the new mum that her tear was fine and did not tell her to see a doctor or seek medical treatment. 'Ms B' was admitted to the hospital weeks later because she followed it up with her GP after the infection spread on to her finger, hand and arm. During her visit, she asked the doctor to examine her perineum and ultimately an obstetrician said she had a second degree tear that they treated.

What's the worst birthing story you've heard?

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