NHS midwife sacked for claiming terrorists could poison baby milk

A midwife who told a patient she was encouraging to breastfeed that terrorists could contaminate milk formula to "kill the babies" has been struck off.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) panel meeting in Cardiff found that the comments by the nurse, Mrs Anna Semenenko, that her comments were "false and misleading, unprofessional and inappropriate.”

The NMC said she had failed to treat her patient with dignity and respect. She was been banned from the profession.

The panel heard that Mrs Semenenko, who worked at Royal Gwent Hospital, Newport and Nevill Hall Hospital, Abergavenny, told another patient: "I am Anya, I am Russian. If you don't like that I can get another midwife."

She was said to have left another patient embarrassed by commenting on her "pretty" private parts, which she photographed without clinical reason or consent.

The hearing was also told that during an intimate examination she speculated to a patient she was tense because of the size of her husband's genitalia.

The panel heard that Mrs Semenenko also pressured the partner and mother of a patient to watch her give birth, despite this being against the mother's wishes and found that she should be banned to highlight "the seriousness of the misconduct.”

An NMC report said the midwife failed to treat patients with kindness, care, respect or compassion and was not concerned with their dignity.

It added: "She had also failed to preserve the safety of her patients and ensure the needs of her patients were responded to. The panel was of the view that Mrs Semenenko's conduct had demonstrated a pattern of incidents where there was a risk of harm to her patients.

"The panel considered that Mrs Semenenko had displayed unsafe and ineffective midwifery practice for several years and that the findings in this particular case demonstrate that Mrs Semenenko's actions were serious. To allow her to continue practising would undermine public confidence in the profession and in the NMC as a regulatory body."

Joseph Cooray, representing Mrs Semenenko, said he would make a High Court application for contempt regarding witnesses and their evidence.