Was Mrs. Adamson “keen” for vaginal delivery?
• It seems to me that the main difficulty which arose here during the inquiry (and it took up some time) is the emphasis which parties sought to place on the word “keen”. It was used by Dr. Mensah in his note after his meeting on 12 March. It was repeated in Dr. Gordon’s (uncompleted) note after his meeting on 9 September and in his letter to Portsmouth. When asked about the word Mrs. Adamson did not accept it as an accurate reflection of her feelings. She said she would have preferred vaginal delivery if possible. I doubt if she ever used the phrase “keen” when discussing how her baby was to be delivered. Significantly the word does not appear in inverted commas in Crown Production No. 1, in contrast to the phrase “post mature” noted by Dr. Gordon. In evidence he said that this was noted in that way to reflect the fact that Mrs. Adamson had used these words. It was not Dr. Mensah’s evidence that the word had been used at his meeting on 12 March. It seems probable that Mrs. Adamson’s p
