Staff were too busy to see my baby was dying
KATIE Hammond's baby daughter died at the maternity unit of Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital where midwives were too "overworked" to spot she had stopped breathing.
Ms Hammond, 39, from Putney, felt "neglected" by staff after giving birth to India in 2005 and said under-pressure nurses appeared "irritated" by her and husband Tim Waters, 42.
Ms Hammond became worried that India was sluggish and unresponsive. She was unable to raise the alarm after being left alone. Her husband managed to find a student midwife but she had to attend to another job first.
Ms Hammond, a complementary therapist, said: "India stopped breathing and they did not notice. There were not enough staff and they were too busy."
India died after four days in intensive care. The cause of death was encephalopathy, or brain disorder. A coroner recorded a verdict of unknown natural causes.
The couple have since had another baby, three-year-old Gryff.
Maggie O'Brien, the hospital's director of midwifery, admitted in 2009 that the unit had been "extremely busy and stressful".
A spokeswoman for Imperial College Healthcare said today: "We have invested £1.7million into our midwifery services."
