HALIFAX - A Halifax man charged with manslaughter in the death of his infant daughter did not understand what the baby needed to survive, a public health nurse testified Monday at the beginning of the father's trial.

Carmel McGinnis told Nova Scotia Supreme Court the three-day-old had no name, no clothes and no health supplies -- aside from diapers -- when the family met the nurse at their tiny, junk-strewn apartment on June 9, 2009.

McGinnis said the girl's father, Ashiqur Rahman, seemed anxious and frustrated because the child cried a great deal and took a long time to breastfeed.

"He didn't seem to have a good understanding of what was normal," McGinnis told the court. "He said he had a business to run ... He didn't realize that the baby was going to take so much time."

McGinnis said the father, in his early 20s, told her his emerging business was aimed at "ending death" through some sort of blood analysis.

She said the baby appeared healthy and vigorous at the time, even though the young mother seemed somewhat immature.

"I thought that she was doing well with the baby," McGinnis said when asked about the girl's mother, Jane Elizabeth Gomes.

The parents were arrested July 24, 2009, after staff at the IWK Health Centre in Halifax reported a case of child abuse.

Seven-week-old Aurora Breakthrough died three days later.

Rahman has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter and aggravated assault.

Gomes pleaded guilty in April to failing to provide the necessities of life and received a conditional discharge with six months of probation.

Rahman is out on bail. He sat quietly in the public gallery Monday, listening intently and taking notes.

McGinnis said she offered the family an enhanced home-visit program, but she also followed up the next day by alerting the provincial Department of Community Services that the child could be at risk.

"The baby didn't seem so important to this family," she testified. "The parents didn't seem to have an understanding of what this baby needed to survive."

Under cross-examination, McGinnis told defence lawyer Donald Murray she may have overstated her concerns.

"Perhaps 'survive' wasn't the best word," she said. "But he didn't understand the biological need to feed often."

Donna Best, the Community Services worker assigned to look into McGinnis's concerns, told the court the parents were very wary when she made an unannounced visit on June 11, 2009.

"My concern was that this was an attic-type of warehouse," Best said. "It was unkempt, dirty."

She told the court Rahman and Gomes came to Canada from Bangladesh on student visas.

Although the mother was easy to talk to and very gentle with the baby, Best said she also noticed there were no health supplies for the child, and that the father was keen to talk about his business.

She said Rahman told her they were unprepared for the birth because the girl was born almost three weeks premature.

Still, Best said the parents seemed open to her suggestions about getting help from a nearby community health clinic.

When she returned a week later, Best said the room was neater and the parents had more supplies. As well, the baby -- asleep at the time -- seemed content and was clearly growing.

However, the department's child protection team took another call from a concerned public health nurse the following month, but Best said the team decided not to pursue the matter.

Best said the nurse was told that a plan was in place to help the family, and she was told to call back if the family wasn't following through.

The trial by judge alone is expected to take two weeks to complete.