A GYNAECOLOGIST had been working for nearly 24 hours at a Dundee maternity unit when she allegedly decapitated a premature baby in a botched delivery.
Dr Vaishnavy Laxman, 43, broke down in tears as she said she may have tried “too hard” to deliver the baby boy at Ninewells hospital on Sunday March 16 2014.
Read more: Mother says she 'does not forgive' doctor in decapitated baby case
The tribunal in Manchester heard that Dr Laxman had started work at 8.30am the previous day and went home at 6pm for five hours before returning to the hospital at 11pm.
At 2am she was notified about the mother, whose waters had broken at 25 weeks, and at 8.30am she was paged to help.
The tribunal has previously heard evidence that Dr Laxman should have delivered the infant by caesarean section as he was in a breech position with an abnormally low heart rate, a prolapsed umbilical cord and the mother was no more than 4cm dilated.
It has been claimed that the boy’s head became stuck and detached from the rest of his body when Dr Laxman pulled on his legs after pressing ahead with a vaginal delivery against the advice of colleagues.
The baby’s head was subsequently retrieved from the womb by C-section and “re-attached” to his body.
Read more: Medics 'should not be prosecuted' for mistakes that kill patients
Dr Laxman, who could be struck off, denies misconduct. She told the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS), that she was “distraught at the outcome”.
Weeping, she said: “I was trying to deliver a live baby, I was trying really hard, possibly too hard. I did not intend to harm mum or the baby.”
Dr Laxman told the tribunal she believed the baby could be delivered naturally, but “we had to act fast”.
She said: “I thought with a C-section we might not have a live baby and it would have been a difficult procedure. This was her first pregnancy and she had a ruptured membrane.
"I thought it was possible to deliver the baby vaginally and I asked mum to push.
“The bottom of the baby came out quite easily and when this happened I thought it was going to be possible.
"I started to encourage the patient to push. Whilst she was pushing I applied some traction to the baby’s feet.”
However, she said she was surprised when the the mother’s cervix “clamped on” the boy’s neck, trapping his head. She said this had not happened to her before when delivering babies.
Dr Laxman said she to tried to cut the mother's cervix but the incision had no impact.
She added: “The patient was quite distressed by this point and she was verbally in pain. I remember her saying ‘you need to stop, you can’t carry on’ and she was given general anaesthetic.
“At some point between the general anaesthetic and the decapitation, the baby died - I’m not sure when.
“I was told the neck was tearing and that’s when I knew the baby had died.”
Read more: Medic 'cut baby's neck with scissors' in botched delivery at Ninewells hospital
The Crown Office has ruled out prosecuting Dr Laxman for culpable homicide or holding a Fatal Accident Inquiry into the case.
The mother, who has not been named, is understood to be suing NHS Tayside for damages in a medical negligence case.
Under cross examination Dr Laxman, who qualified in India, said it was a complex case. She said: “During the course of my training I delivered a lot of babies in the UK and India.
"Some in breech positions, some with prolapsed cords, some as premature babies.
“I did have experience with this. But I have never had everything with one patient before, it was a lot of complications.”
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