A mother whose baby died three days after being born says she would still be alive if it wasn’t for “incompetent” midwives.

During an inquest into the death of tot Rosanna Matthews, heartbroken Elena Sala, from Maidstone, slammed staff at Pembury Hospital in Tunbridge Wells for making her feel “embarrassed and intimidated” as a first-time mum.

Previously, a report by the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB) found there was a failure from staff to escalate monitoring after Ms Sala made it clear she felt like she had to push, as well as failing to recognise and escalate that the cardiotocography (CTG) trace, which monitors foetal heart rate and contractions, was abnormal.

Rosanna sadly died on November 23, 2020, after being in a coma for three days after being born.

In a statement read to the coroner, Ms Sala branded midwives in charge of her care as “unprofessional, rude and sarcastic”.

It said: “They were out of their depth. They were bickering and snapping at the doctor. It seemed like they were passing the blame.”

Ms Sala said one of the midwives, Agatha Carter, was rude and dismissed concerns her while she lay on the floor in agony.

'We have been scarred for life and my baby died through incompetence...'

The mother-of-one, who gave birth to daughter Lola last year, said she was made to feel “embarrassed and intimidated”.

The former barmaid and Mascalls student, who was 19 at the time, previously told KentOnline she believes she was “disrespected and disregarded” for being a young, first-time mum.

The hearing at Archbishop’s Place in Maidstone heard how Rosanna was a “perfectly healthy” baby in pregnancy, up until the final couple of weeks.

Counsel for Ms Sala and her husband, David Matthews, explained how Ms Sala arrived at Pembury at around 8.15am on November 20, 2020, but was told to go home and return in two hours' time as she was only 3cm dilated.

After leaving and returning at 11.40am she was still 3cm dilated but in “a lot of pain” and a couple of hours later, at around 1.30pm, was given gas and air, pethidine and water injections to try and stop back pain she was experiencing.

Coroner Catherine Wood was told how, in the next few hours there would be a delay in getting an epidural due to no available anaesthetist being available and how Ms Sala would be told to fight the urge to push.

Ms Sala said at one point she was told to sit down but didn’t want to as it felt like she was “sitting on the baby’s head”, and claimed her two midwives - Catherine Lewis and Agatha Carter - wouldn’t let her push.

At around 4pm a registrar was called to the room - after an epidural was finally given - and conducted an internal examination where the meconium - the first stool of a newborn - was found and the baby was in the birth canal.

At this point Ms Sala was in “agonising and huge pain” and around an hour later she was taken to theatre to deliver the baby after a panic alarm was sounded when the foetal heart rate dropped to around 50 beats per minute.

Rosanna was born at 5.48pm and was transferred to Medway Maritime Hospital but sadly died three days later.

In Ms Sala’s statement to the court, which had the midwives listening in via video link, she said: “Had there not been bickering and they done their jobs properly my baby would still be alive.

“We have been scarred for life and my baby died through incompetence.”

The court heard evidence from Zoe Fenelon who saw Ms Sala on September 17 after she complained of reduced movement.

She explained, while she checked Ms Sala and the baby, she failed to plot any of the tot’s growth.

The court heard how there had been no growth from Ms Sala’s baby since the last plotting on September 3 and Ms Fenelon explained: “On reflection I would’ve plotted and sent Elena for a scan. It could’ve picked up issues such as the growth of the baby.”

During evidence read out in court from Catherine Lewis, the midwives claimed that on two occasions - at 3pm and 3.42pm - Ms Sala declined a vaginal examination, which may have indicated the progress of the pregnancy, as she wanted to wait for an epidural.

However, Ms Sala explained she had asked to wait for an epidural at 3pm as she believed it wasn’t long away, but didn’t have any discussions after this about another examination.

Midwife Agatha Carter, who was a newly appointed member of the trust at the time, was questioned by Cara Guthrie, counsel for the family.

She admitted she was “surprised” that on inspection from a registrar Ms Sala was fully dilated, adding that it was “unusual for a new-born mum”.

The midwife said she became “very concerned” when the baby’s heart-rate dropped and she pressed the alarm bell.

The inquest is finally taking place after nearly two years and having been adjourned twice.

It will continue tomorrow morning at 10am.