Failure to progress in labour ends in hysterectomy
Kiran and her husband had twin daughters who had been delivered by an emergency caesarean section at 34 weeks. They had always wanted a very large family and Kiran became pregnant for the second time 4 years later.
Her antenatal care was booked at the Heartlands Hospital, part of the Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust.
Her pregnancy progressed well. She reached 40 weeks gestation. However, she went past her due date and was told that her labour would be induced after 2 weeks if she had not laboured spontaneously.
Kiran did not go into labour within those 2 weeks and so she was admitted to Heartlands Hospital for an induction of labour. The plan was to induce her by using a Foley Catheter (where a tube and balloon are inserted into the cervix and inflated to encourage the cervix to dilate).
Kiran began to dilate but her progress was very slow. She was not monitored adequately and remained only 3cm dilated after 24 hours.
At 9am on her second morning in hospital, a decision was made to proceed to an emergency caesarean section. However, another patient was prioritised ahead of Kiran and she was not taken to theatre until 12.30pm.
Kiran’s baby was delivered and was well at birth. However, during the caesarean section it was found that Kiran’s previous caesarean section scar had dehisced (opened) and she was haemorrhaging severely. This was a result of her being left to labour for so long without action being taken to achieve delivery of her baby earlier.
An attempt was made to stem the bleeding and Kiran was returned to the ward. However, she continued to haemorrhage and had to be taken back to theatre where an emergency hysterectomy was performed.
Kiran had planned to have a very large family and she cannot now have any further children. Tragically, she has been unable to tell her husband about her hysterectomy as she is frightened he will leave her and she would have to bring up her children alone. She has been extremely traumatised by these events and is seeking counselling. She continues to suffer with constant abdominal pains and dyspareunia (pain during sexual intercourse).
With the help of clinical negligence lawyer Emma Rush, Kiran successfully pursued a claim against the Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust. Kiran was awarded a five figure sum in compensation.