A Broomfield Hospital midwife was found to have acted unprofessionally in how she treated a mother-to-be
A midwife who squeezed a woman's nipples while she was in labour and told her to imagine she was smoking a spliff has been suspended.
At Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford, midwife Samantha Stanton, asked the woman: "What do you expect? You're in labour, you should be in pain".
A Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) panel found she acted unprofessionally towards the woman in June 2014.
Ms Stanton was suspended for 12 months, as reported by the Essex Chronicle., external
Slapped thigh
When she gave the woman a vaginal examination, the mother-to-be let out what her partner described as "a blood curdling scream" and asked Ms Stanton to stop, which she failed to do.
Ms Stanton told the woman to imagine she was "drinking a glass of rum and smoking a spliff" to ease her pain.
She was found to have squeezed the woman's nipples without her consent, and slapped her on the thigh.
The NMC found her actions "fell significantly short of the standards expected of a registered midwife" and said she had not respected the mother's dignity.
Panel members found she had "betrayed the trust" placed in her and said the 12-month suspension was "appropriate in this case to mark the seriousness of the misconduct".
