Two midwives connected with Queen's Hospital, Romford, north east London have been accused of failing to provide appropriate clinical care to a baby who was found by another caregiver unattended and lying face down on its tummy inside a cupboard in the hospital.

The newborn was believed to be a four-day-old baby girl.

The case which happened in April 2011 began when the father of Baby A gave her to the care of midwives Yvonne Musonda-Malata and Christine Onoade. He asked them to take the baby away so that his wife, Baby A's mother, could get a good night's sleep. It was reported the mother has a health condition, and that it was important that she gets a good night's sleep.

But the baby, believed to have been overfed, was largely unsettled and continued crying. Hearing her child's cries affected the mother and prevented her from sleeping. Baby A's father then requested that the baby be taken out of the room. Baby A was transferred and kept in the midwives station during the night.

Next thing that happened, Alex Curtis, a nursery nurse, discovered the infant inside the cupboard at around 6.30am on April 18, 2011 lying face down on its stomach covered in vomit and suffocating.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) heard it was Ms Malata who was mainly responsible for looking after the baby. Ms Malata, who has worked as a nurse since 2004, admitted putting the baby there, but kept its door open. When her shift ended, Ms Onade then took over.

"I went to the post-natal ward to get an envelope from the stationery cupboard and found a baby lying on its tummy on its own," Ms Curtis said.

"The baby was in the cot just behind the door. I cannot remember whether the light was off or on, but I saw baby on its front and went to check if it was breathing."

She likewise said that as per practice, babies aren't allowed to lie face down. "We always lie a baby on its back as there is a risk of cot death."

Ms Curtis also noted that none of Ms Malata or Ms Onade should have left Baby A alone.

"If, as a nursery nurse, I took responsibility for a parent's baby, I would never leave it alone. If I needed to go off and do something, I would ask another nurse to look after the baby."

It is believed that Ms Onade had forgotten all about Baby A when she had to attend to a problem with one of the other mothers, until Ms Curtis found the newborn.