Dr Vaishnavy Laxman, a consultant gynaecologist, is accused of botching a birth which saw the baby decapitated

A consultant gynaecologist accused of causing an unborn baby to be accidentally decapitated inside her mother’s womb was overheard telling the mother to ‘push’ as she tugged at the infant’s legs, a medical tribunal heard on Monday.

Dr Vaishnavy Laxman, 41, opted to attempt a natural birth instead of a Caesarean section when a woman went into premature labour in 2014, it is claimed.

However, the baby died during delivery when the manoeuvre caused the infant’s legs, arms and torso to become detached, leaving the head still in his mother’s womb.

Fellow doctors at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee have told a tribunal they believed they were preparing for a c-section and were unaware of what Laxman was doing.

They said they were left ‘in shock’ and could exclaim only ‘this baby is dead’ during the failed delivery.

The hearing in Manchester was told Ms Laxman was heard saying ‘give me a good push’ to the 30-year-old woman whose waters had broken early at 25 weeks.

Two other doctors carried out a C-section on the woman to remove the infant’s head.

It was ‘re-attached’ to his body so his mother could hold him before she said goodbye.

At the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service Dr Shmaila Siddiki, one of a team of doctors working said: ‘Dr Laxman was encouraging the patient to push and she was pulling the baby down – this was not what I was expecting.

‘I was speaking to another doctor who said ‘how is she going to do it – how is she going to deliver the head’. I was so shocked at what was happening. I just said ‘it’s dead, this baby is going to die’. I was so shocked.”

Ninewells Hospital in Dundee where the woman, 30, went to have her baby delivered when she went into premature labour

The hearing was told the tragedy occurred on March 16 2014 as the unborn baby was found to have a prolapsed cord, was in a breech position whilst the mother’s cervix was around 2-3cm dilated.

It should be 10cm fully dilated.

Dr Siddiki told the Manchester tribunal: ‘I remember 3cm dilation being said and I saw Dr Laxman go to examine her but I don’t know what she was doing.

‘I believe she was examining the patient to confirm the findings but she didn’t tell me why she was examining the patient.

‘She could not comment on what she was doing but another doctor told me they were not considering a Caesarean section. All I heard Dr Laxman say to the patient was ‘I’m going to examine you’.

‘If she was fully dilated, the baby could be delivered vaginally but she never communicated with the patient about doing a vaginal delivery. I never got the information that she was going to do that. I’m not sure what she was doing.

‘We were set up for a c-section, she had a prolapsed cord and she was 25 plus 6 weeks gestated. I was under the impression we were going to do a c-section and this caused us a delay – I didn’t know what she was planning.

‘I said ‘are you not going for a section’ and all she said was ‘I know that’. I don’t know what the plan was in her mind. After that I saw the feet coming out of the vagina. I admit I didn’t tell her to stop and I saw her pull on the legs.

‘The patient was pushing the baby and the baby was being delivered by traction. It was repeated pulls and traction and it lasted for approximately 15-20 minutes.

‘I wanted to look for any foetal abnormality but Dr Laxman was encouraging the patient to push and she was pulling the baby down. This was not what I was expecting.

Dr Vaishnavy Laxman outside her MPTS tribunal hearing at the GMC in Manchester

‘If she was only at 3cm it would have been right for her to have a c-section. I just said ‘this baby is dead now’ I was so shocked. I didn’t express this to Dr Laxman.

‘I had no confirmation of this as I wasn’t stood near to see, but I just knew. The baby’s heartbeat had dropped. I saw the baby’s legs coming out of the vagina, then she delivered up to the chest, it happened very quickly.

‘Dr Laxman said to the patient ‘give me a good push’ and there was repeated pulling on the legs and body. Sometimes the shoulders are tricky to deliver as the arms can get stuck and it can be heard to get out.

‘The information of her consultation was that she was not properly dilated but it was hard to know how hard this was to get the baby out. There was two attempts made by Dr Laxman to cut the cervix but I didn’t know what she was doing.’

Laxman who faces being struck off denies contributing to the death of the baby. Lawyers for the General Medical Council said she should have performed a Caesarean instead of a natural delivery arguing a ‘fragile’ baby like the infant who died would suffer ‘a lot more damage if pulled or twisted’.

The hearing continues