A mother whose baby boy died hours after she gave birth to him in the bathroom of her Lanarkshire flat has told an inquiry that a midwife dismissed signs of labour and told her to "take a paracetamol".
Nadine Rooney told the fatal accident inquiry at Glasgow Sheriff Court that she was in "extreme pain" but felt that the midwife, who she spoke with over the phone, did not want her to come into hospital "because it was the middle of the night".
The midwife, Shona McPhee, told the inquiry that Ms Rooney had described "mild" back pain and that "nothing that was reported to me was suggestive of pre-term labour".
The FAI was hearing evidence for the first time into the death of Leo Lamont, who was just two hours old when he died at Monklands hospital in Coatbridge on February 15 2019.
The case is the last of three infants' deaths in Lanarkshire which are being jointly investigated by the inquiry after the Crown Office said the circumstances "gave rise to serious public concern".
The inquiry previously heard evidence in January in relation to the deaths Ellie McCormick, on March 5 2019, and Mirabelle Bosch, on July 2 2021, who both also died within hours of birth complications.
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Ms Rooney, a kitchen assistant from Cumbernauld, fell pregnant with Leo towards the end of summer 2018 following a previous miscarriage.
She already had a daughter, Sophia, from a previous relationship, who was also born prematurely.
The inquiry heard that she had to take time off work due to severe nausea early in the pregnancy and began suffering from a persistent cough and urine infections towards the end of 2018, but was otherwise healthy.
At the end of January 2019, she experienced reduced foetal movement but was given the all-clear following checks at the Princess Royal Maternity in Glasgow.
In early February she noticed some vaginal bleeding while attending a funeral, and on February 13 passed a blood clot.
Following an appointment with her community midwife at Cumbernauld health centre that day, she was advised to go to the maternity assessment unit at the Princess Royal.
Ms Rooney, who is pregnant again and due to give birth in around a month's time, told the inquiry that she had attended later the same day with her partner, Anthony Lamont.
Following an internal examination she was told that it was "just loose blood cells", probably linked to recent urine and thrush infections.
She raised the alarm with doctors again, however, after passing a second blood clot while using the toilet in the hospital.
A second doctor reassured Ms Rooney that there was "nothing wrong" following another examination, and she returned home.
On February 14, the inquiry heard that Ms Rooney began experiencing discomfort in her lower back around 5pm which became steadily worse.
She said: "The pain was going right through my back."
After going to bed early to try to sleep, Ms Rooney told the inquiry she woke up in the early hours of February 15 "in extreme pain".
At 3.08am the inquiry heard that she had exchanged Facebook messages with her mother, writing that she was "in agony and terrified", adding - in reference to Leo's prematurity - "he can't come this early".
She subsequently woke Mr Lamont, who called the 24/7 helpline at the Princess Royal's maternity assessment unit around 3.23am.
Ms Rooney - who broke down in tears several times while giving evidence - told the inquiry that she was in so much pain she struggled to speak to the midwife, but that Ms McPhee had advised her to "have a warm bath, take paracetamol, and go back to bed and to call back if it got worse".
She added: "I felt the midwife was not bothered and didn't want me to come in, because it was the middle of the night."
Ms McPhee, also giving evidence to the inquiry on Wednesday, said that she had gone through a checklist with Ms Rooney which included questions about contractions and pain.
She said Ms Rooney "sounded calm" and had been experiencing "mild pain" which "wasn't constant and wasn't crampy in nature".
She said she had advised Ms Rooney to apply a "heat pack" to soothe her backache but to call back if the symptoms continued or worsened.
"Nothing that was being relayed to me over the phone was suggestive of pre-term labour," said Ms McPhee, who qualified as a midwife in 1999.
Mr Lamont, also giving evidence, told the inquiry that his partner was "in a panic" and clearly frightened during this time.
"I could see the condition she was in," he said, adding that he was "giving it an hour" to see whether the situation improved before driving her to hospital.
By 4.30am, the couple were getting ready to leave when Ms Rooney went to the bathroom and suddenly began to deliver baby Leo.
Mr Lamont said: "She was just getting her shoes on and going to the toilet, and I was getting Sophia ready when [Nadine] called out that 'he's coming'."
An ambulance was called and Leo was rushed to the nearest neonatal intensive care unit, at Monklands hospital, but died soon afterwards.
Ms McPhee said that "with hindsight and knowing the outcome" she wished she had told Ms Rooney to come into hospital "but the symptoms reported to me at the time were not indicative of pre-term birth".
The inquiry continues.
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