September 29th, 2009
A family has been awarded £410,000 in compensation after a woman died due to errors during a caesarean section.
Joanne Lockham, 45, had been admitted to Stoke Mandeville Hospital at Aylesbury in October 2007 and staff made the decision to give her a caesarean when her baby’s heartbeat dropped.
The patient was put under a general anaesthetic, but doctors mistakenly inserted the oxygen tube into her oesophagus and not her windpipe. She was deprived of oxygen for half an hour and her heart stopped a minute after the baby was born.
Ms Lockham’s life support was turned off two days later.
Her husband Peter decided to sue Buckinghamshire Hospitals NHS Trust after it admitted liability for the death and for "serious failings" in Ms Lockham’s care.
Mr Justice Burnett has now approved a compensation settlement of £410,000 for the loss and to cover the long-term care needs of the baby.
According to Babycentre.co.uk, approximately one in four pregnant women gives birth by caesarean every year.
Tags: Aylesbury, Babycentre, C Section, Caesarean Section, Doctors, General Anaesthetic, Half An Hour, Heart, Heartbeat, Hospitals Nhs Trust, Joanne, Long Term Care, Mr Justice, Oesophagus, Oxygen Tube, Pregnant Women
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February 3rd, 2009
A woman is taking legal action against the NHS trust she claims is responsible for the death of her baby.
Louise Davies, 28, was listed as a relatively high-risk patient when she fell pregnant for the second time, after suffering some problems with her first child, the Sunday Sun attests.
However, when she began to unexpectedly lose water and suffer from abdominal pains, she claims that staff at Darlington Memorial Hospital told her to go home and take a bath before returning two days later.
When she returned, Ms Davies alleges that staff were unprepared for her and did not perform a scan.
It was only when a doctor later looked for a heartbeat that none could be found and Ms Davies was told the baby had died.
She said she will now seek legal action against the County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust – which provides secondary care district general hospital services to a population of around 500,000 in County Durham and Darlington – in order to ensure that the situation does not happen to anyone else.
"Nothing could bring Callum back, but it was an incredibly traumatic experience and one that I am still struggling to come to terms with," Ms Davies commented.
Tags: Abdominal Pains, Callum, County Durham, Darlington Memorial Hospital, District General Hospital, Foundation Trust, Heartbeat, High Risk, Ms Davies, Nhs Trust, Population, Risk Patient, Second Time, Sunday Sun, Traumatic Experience, Woman
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