A midwife has been found guilty of leaving a four-day-old baby face-down in a stationery cupboard.
Yvonne Musonda-Malata, 35, tended to the baby girl in a cot by the midwives' station before moving it into a large stationery cupboard and lying the child on its stomach after it became unsettled.
Nurse Alex Curtis found the baby when she went to get an envelope. She said the child was face down inside, suffocating in vomit. Fortunately, the baby was unharmed and was discharged fit and healthy.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) found that Musonda-Malata failed to provide appropriate clinical care to a baby while working on a night shift at Queen's Hospital in Essex in 2011.
She was responsible for looking after the baby while its mother caught up on sleep, the NMC was told.
Ms Curtis told the tribunal: "I saw the baby on its front and went to check if it was breathing. We always lay a baby on its back as there is a risk of cot death.
"If I took responsibility for a parent's baby, I would never leave it alone. If I needed to go and do something, I would ask another nurse to look after it."
The midwife insisted she left the baby 'aligned against' the cupboard with the door ajar because there was no specific place for its cot.
But ward sister Martina Cheng told the tribunal Musonda-Malata admitted what she had done hours later, saying "I have made a mistake, I'm in big trouble."
Colleague Christine Onade, 46, was cleared of all charges against her, including claims she failed to record all of 'Baby A's' feeds while caring for her.
The panel will now decide whether Musonda-Malata will be punished over the incident.