Hospital staff 'ignored and dismissed' mother of five who died of haemorrhage, family say after inquest reveals major failings
14 August 2024, 14:32
Relatives of a mother-of-five who suffered a fatal haemorrhage have told LBC she was “ignored and dismissed” by hospital staff.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
The birth of 36-year-old Laura-Jane Seaman’s fifth child at Broomfield Hospital in Essex in December 2022 went smoothly.
But in the next few hours the new mother, who had a history of haemorrhages, dramatically deteriorated, complaining to staff that she felt she was “gushing” until she finally lost consciousness in bed.
The new mother was suffering from a severe internal haemorrhage – but midwives did not recognise the tell-tale signs.
An inquest, which this week concluded her death was avoidable and contributed to by neglect, laid bare a litany of failures and heard how staff failed to escalate her care -instead offering her a biscuit when she said she felt like she was dying.
Laura-Jane was then misdiagnosed, and staff gave her an anti-clotting agent which would have made the bleeding worse.
She was later rushed into surgery where she went into cardiac arrest.
'Angry, hurt, and disappointed'
Laura-Jane’s devastated mother Sarah Shead has spoken to LBC saying how staff ignored her daughter’s pleas for her life – dismissing her as a “hysterical” new mother.
It comes after one of the midwives involved in her care admitted to the inquest that “lots of new mothers think they are dying.”
Sarah urged the Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, which was placed under special measures earlier this year, to make urgent changes before other mothers die.
She said: “I'm angry, hurt, and disappointed in the fact that we trusted people because they were medical professionals.
“People have got to take accountability for their actions on that night.
“Laura-Jane was begging for her life, and they didn’t take her fear seriously. Her life mattered so little.
“I think they decided she was a hysterical mother.
“They can move on, and they can be dismissive to another mother and another family- but we live with this overwhelming feeling of grief and despair and complete and utter distrust of people that we are supposed to be relying on.”
Area Coroner Sonia Hayes concluded Laura-Jane died because of “basic failings” in her care across several departments.
She also ruled that Article 2 of the European Convention of Human Rights - the right to life - was engaged because of the failure of the state to prevent her death.
It comes after LBC spoke exclusively to a mother who called for root-and-branch maternity care reform after her premature daughter was killed when staff mistakenly injected her with cyanide medication at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital.
Earlier this year NHS England put the Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trustunder special measures to plug a financial blackhole amounting to more than £90 million – potentially putting 600 jobs at risk.
Suzanne White of law firm Leigh Day which represented Laura-Jane’s family said: “(The Trust) must acknowledge the failures in care, confirmed by the coroner’s conclusion, and put into place robust procedures to make sure that this tragedy never happens again.
“Women giving birth at the Trust need to be reassured that they and their babies are safe.
“(Laura-Jane) was right from the start - she knew something was up but she was just not listened to.”
Diane Sarkar, Chief Nursing and Quality Officer for Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We extend our sincerest sympathies and condolences to the family of Laura-Jane.
"Her tragic death has affected us all at the Trust greatly.
"Following investigations into the circumstances that led to her death, our focus has been on improving training in recognising the early signs of deterioration and escalation routes in our maternity services to prevent this from happening again.
"We thank the Coroner for her detailed review and have listened carefully to her comments and the evidence heard at inquest, all of which will inform our efforts to continue to improve maternity services at the Trust.”
