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Mum-to-be
died a day after hospital release
A CORONER has ruled out medical negligence after a pregnant
woman and her unborn baby died a day after being released from
hospital.
Jo Carley Larke, 25, died from a blood clot at University College
London Hospital (UCLH) in Bloomsbury in May last year, a St
Pancras inquest heard on Thursday.
During a desperate lif-saving effort, doctors performed an emergency
Caesarian section on 28-week pregnant Ms Larke but her baby,
Isabella Violet, was stillborn. Ms Larke was pronounced dead
soon after.
The inquest heard how Ms Larke was staying at her mother-in-law’s
home in Albany Street, Regent’s Park, when she became ill.
Her husband, engineer Simon Larke, rushed his wife to Queen
Charlotte’s Hospital in Hammersmith, where she was registered
for ante-natal classes. Ms Larke, who had been breathless, dizzy
and distressed, was given oxygen and released from hospital.
Her husband said: “The diagnosis was she stood up too quickly
from the shower.”
But her symptoms returned and she continued to complain of nausea,
headaches, breathlessness and dizziness.
Her husband said: “I woke up for work the next day at about
6am. She said she still had a bit of a headache.”
Recalling the fear he experienced when he rang home at 10am
but could get no reply, he said: “I asked some friends
to kick the door in to see if she was okay but she wasn’t.”
Paramedics were called but Ms Larke’s condition continued
to deteriorate. Mr Larke said: “They had teams working
on her at my mum’s house. Then she was taken to UCLH. All
I knew was Isabella was dead.”
Philip Hatherall, representing Queen Mary’s Hospital, told
the inquest Ms Larke had been given an ultrasound scan, undergone
a physical examination and taken a urine test.
Dr Ruwan Wimalasundra, consultant in fetal medicine in obstetrics
at Queen Charlotte’s Hospital, who did not attend Ms Larke,
described the hospital’s training procedures to the inquest.
He said staff were trained to spot the symptoms of blood clots
in arteries, were given guidelines and were required to attend
at least one-out-of-three compulsory training sessions annually,
which helped staff identify problems. He said dizziness and
breathlessness were common in pregnancy.
Dr Wimalasundra told the inquest: “It is correct to say
that, at the time Ms Larke was seen by the doctor, she didn’t
have any continuing signs as set out in the guidelines.”
An autopsy put the cause of Ms Larke’s death down to pulmonary
thromboembolism.
Coroner Dr Andrew Reid said he had found no evidence of “any
want of attention” or “gross medical” negligence.
Verdict: Ms Larke died of natural causes. Isabella Larke was
stillborn. |
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