A paediatrician testified yesterday that he warned two parents accused of killing their baby daughter that the child could die if she continued to lose weight ? but his advice was spurned.

As the trial of dentist Amenemhat Waset Amen-Ra Tamerry, 48, and his wife Maatkai Hatsheput Tamerry, 36, entered its second day the jury heard from a number of medical professionals. The couple, who were formerly known as Clark Godwin and Regina Woods but had their names legally changed, deny unlawfully killing their ten-month-old daughter, A?Maya.

Paediatrician Dr. Alexander Barron testified yesterday that he was the baby?s doctor for the first three weeks after her birth on May 1, 2000. A?Maya died ? as a result of severe neglect and malnutrition, the Crown alleges ? on March 1, 2001.

?The baby started to look skinny but the father said he was not concerned,? Dr. Barron said yesterday.

He told the court he saw the child when she was one week old and was concerned because the baby had not gained weight after being discharged from the hospital. A?Maya weighed six pounds and four ounces at birth.

Dr. Barron said he expressed his concerns to the Tamerrys after another two weeks went by and the child continued to lose weight.

He said he told the couple that their daughter would die if this continued.

?He (the father) continued to say that nothing was wrong and said he disagreed with me,? Dr. Barron said. ?It was the strangest conversation I?ve had in years with a parent.?

The defendants missed a number of appointments with him, Dr. Barron added.

He said he felt he had ?no choice? but to report the Tamerrys to Child and Family Services (CFS) after nurse Mandy Ingham later told to him that the couple would not let her into their home to weigh A?Maya.

Ms Ingham said A?Maya?s father would not let her weigh the child over the weekend but admitted that she never told Dr. Barron that she was invited back on Monday to weigh the baby.

The Tamerrys broke off their relationship with Dr. Barron after A?Maya reached three weeks of age and began seeing another doctor, Dr. Roddy Moore.

The couple later changed physicians again and began seeing Dr. June Hill in June.

?Are you aware by the end of June, Dr. June Hill was of the position the child was now gaining weight and thriving?? defence lawyer Mark Pettingill asked Dr. Barron in cross-examination

Dr. Barron replied: ?No.?

Mr. Pettingill asked him if he was aware the mother had difficulty breast feeding and her daughter was not latching on properly to her breast.

Dr. Barron said he was made aware of this towards the end of May but knew she was exclusively breast feeding from the beginning.

Mr. Pettingill suggested that Dr. Barron?s reporting the couple to CFS may have caused the mother additional stress. ?Do you think a better option would have been to deal with the mother and latching on?? he asked.

But Dr. Barron said he did not talk to the mother and did most of the talking with the father.

Maatkai Tamerry eventually wrote a letter to CFS which said she had been disappointed with Dr. Barron?s ?bedside manner?.

In the letter, she alleged that because she and her husband were black with dreadlocks, Dr. Barron treated them differently.

?When I read this letter I was stunned,? Dr. Barron said yesterday.

A number of other medical professionals told the court yesterday that they saw A?Maya in the early months of her short life.

Dr. Christine Eldeson testified that Maatkai Tamerry contacted her looking for help on breast-feeding.

?She called me looking for help and came to see me because she had problems breast feeding,? Dr. Eldeson said. A?Maya was ?well under weight? when she saw her on May 18, she added.

But, she said both defendants came to visit her and asked a lot of questions.

?They were very concerned about their baby,? she said, adding that they seemed very willing to do everything she suggested.

Nurse Laura-Lynn Jackson testified that she met with the Tamerrys and their daughter on May 29.

At this point, A?Maya had lost elasticity in her skin and some more body fat, she said.

She said the baby was still failing to thrive despite the fact the breast-feeding situation had improved.

The defendants told her they were feeling stressed because of pressure from CFS, she added.

Mr. Pettingill asked if she could say whether the child could have had an absorption problem but Ms Jackson did not know.

Jean Wilson, a district nurse, said weighed A?Maya on June 10 at the Tamerry?s home.

At this time, the baby was almost six weeks old and weighed just five pounds and eight ounces. In a report written after the visit, she said that she had been well received by the defendants but Maatkai Tamerry had expressed concerns to her the child was not feeding well.

She said she told the mother that it may take some time for the baby to gain weight.

Nurse Hillary Hill testified that she saw A?Maya on June 12 and was immediately concerned because the child had lost another ounce, although she was latching on during breast-feeding.

She admitted, however, that she did not express this concern to the Tamerrys because they were scheduled to see a physician the following day.

Closing out yesterday?s testimony, the jury heard from the hospital?s clinical coordinator Michelle Barnett ? who is a friend of the Tamerrys.

Ms Barnett said that she had discussed possible hospitalisation of A?Maya with the defendants and their concerns over the situation with CFS.

Ms Barnett said she told them if they allowed the child to be taken into hospital they would have input into A?Maya?s treatment. But if CFS took A?Maya from the couple, they would not have the same privileges.

She also said that on the two occasions she had seen the baby, A?Maya seemed fine.

As the Crown opened its case against the couple on Wednesday, the court heard that before her death A?Maya was severely underweight, blind, and suffered from a slew of malnutrition related illnesses.

The child had life-threatening severe dehydration (ten percent), very high potassium levels, inflammation of her stomach lining, Cepsis (possible overwhelming infection), a yeast infection, an electrolyte imbalance, anaemia, double pneumonia and sunken eyes with a film over the cornea.

A?Maya also had thrombocytopenia (condition caused by low platelet in very sick babies), too much acid in her blood resulting in inadequate blood supply to certain parts of the body, was also emaciated and had blotchy skin.

The trial continues today in front of Chief Justice Richard Ground.