Mum dies after hospital's 'basic failures' - report

A woman died soon after the birth of her fifth child due to "basic failures" in her care, a report said.

Laura-Jane Seaman, 36, died at Broomfield Hospital, Chelmsford, Essex, on 23 December 2022 following a significant peritoneal haemorrhage.

A prevention of future deaths report by a coroner said the bleeding was not identified, despite Ms Seaman's repeated concerns that she was "gushing" - and her appeals to staff to "not let me die".

Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust said it was improving training "to prevent this from happening again".

Ms Seaman had been admitted to the hospital on 21 December and while the birth of her baby was uneventful, she subsequently suffered a haemorrhage that was not noticed by staff for hours - despite her having a known history of haemorrhages.

Earlier this year, a coroner had found multiple "gross failures" by healthcare professionals and said if these had not occurred, Ms Seaman, from Witham, would not have died.

Ms Seaman had been known to the Essex trust to be at high risk of postpartum hemorrhage - heavy bleeding post-birth - prior to her admission to hospital.

After delivering a vaginal birth, she recovered well and was able to breastfeed her baby.

She was sitting up in bed and was planning to go home after the discharge of her baby.

However, two hours later she started to feel unwell and asked clinicians: "Am I bleeding?"

Her concerns were not escalated - with medical staff putting her symptoms down to dehydration, and when she lost consciousness she was simply given a biscuit.

Essex coroner Sonia Hayes said in the report that Ms Seaman's maternal collapse was "categorised by staff as a faint" when it should have been escalated to the critical care team.

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.

"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."

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