A Swiss border guard ignored the fatal medical emergency of a pregnant Syrian refugee because he wanted to end his workday on time, a prosecutor said on the second day of a trial on Thursday in Bern.

The prosecutor proposed a prison term between three and seven years for the officer, who is charged with causing or contributing to the stillbirth of the woman's unborn baby girl in July 2014.

The officer had commanded a unit of border guards who were bringing the woman and her family from a southern border post to Italy by train.

The defendant had ignored repeated pleas for medical help by the woman's husband and sister out of indifference, and because he wanted to finish his work on time on a Friday evening, the prosecutor charged.

"It was more important for him to go home," the prosecutor said.

The border guards did not help the husband carry his bleeding wife onto the train, the court heard.

The Syrian family's attorney demanded reparations of 820,000 Swiss francs ($830,000).

"I misjudged the situation," the officer acknowledged.

He stated, however, that the woman's family had failed to make it clear that the situation was urgent.

A medical expert witness told the court that the woman's placenta had become partly detached in the womb. Babies can often be saved in such cases, if the mother gets medical help quickly, he said.

The court is scheduled to announce its ruling on Dec. 7, rather than Friday, as originally planned.