Coroner finds Hampshire mum Lucy Howell may have died even if warned of dangers of natural birth following surgery

Health and safety organiser Lucy Howell, from Bishop's Waltham, died at the Royal Hampshire County Hospital in Winchester on March 13, 2021.

She had elected to have a natural birth for her second daughter having experienced a ‘prolonged and painful’ recovery from a previous Caesarean birth in 2017, requiring niche repair surgery to the C-section scarring in 2019, the inquest in Winchester heard.

The hearing was told that Mrs Howell and the surgeon who carried out the surgery considered it to be the equivalent of a second Caesarean section.

The inquest heard that the obstetrician who treated Mrs Howell at the time of her second pregnancy had not seen medical notes about the surgery but had agreed to support Mrs Howell’s request to have a natural delivery after speaking to a colleague who had been present at the operation.

Mrs Howell’s husband Matthew told the inquest his wife had tried to tell the medics about the seriousness of the operation.

He said she had wanted a natural birth but had wanted to do what was safest for her and the baby.

Giving a narrative conclusion, coroner Rosamund Rhodes-Kemp said that had Mrs Howell been advised of the risk of a second Caesarean, she still might have died from the amniotic fluid embolism that she suffered as well as a uterine rupture during labour.

She said: ‘Her antenatal care was consultant-led but none of the doctors looking after her had experience of the type of niche repair she had in 2019.

‘She was admitted on March 12 and labour was induced. On March 13 she collapsed and went into cardiac arrest, she was taken into theatre and a baby girl was delivered by emergency Caesarean section whilst Lucy was being resuscitated.

‘Sadly this was unsuccessful and Lucy died at the Royal Hampshire County Hospital.

‘Lucy Howell died due to uterine amniotic embolism following a natural labour which was her preference. This was on a background of previously elective Caesarean section and a laparoscopic niche repair in 2019.

‘None of those obstetricians involved in the birth had experience of this kind of history or the risk of rupture that this posed. Had they known and conveyed this information to Lucy she may have chosen to have an elective Caesarean.

‘However, whilst this would have avoided the rupture there is no evidence available from which to conclude that she would have avoided the amniotic fluid embolism and therefore her tragic death.’