37-year-old mother Estelle O’Sullivan passed away after giving birth to her twins due to many, avoidable hospital blunders.
O’Sullivan and her doctors had known, even before she got pregnant with her twins, that she would require a C-section birth. During the birth of her first child, doctors had discovered her blood didn’t clot properly; a C-section birth would best allow doctors to control how much blood she lost during the process.
But when O’Sullivan’s waters broke and her husband took her to the hospital, things began to go wrong.
Several necessary operating instruments for the C-section were missing from O’Sullivan’s delivery room. Nurses had to rush out to acquire them as their absence was discovered.
During the procedure, O’Sullivan began to feel severe pain surges in her stomach. Her babies’ heartrates soared, and doctors rushed to get the twins out before the emergency situation escalated even further.
The twins were, thankfully, born safely and rushed to the Special Care Baby Unit to receive further attention.
Back in the delivery room, O’Sullivan suffered a cardiac arrest. She’d lost three liters of blood at that point and desperately needed a transfusion.
A nurse pressed the nearby emergency button to call for a doctor – but none came. The button was broken. She ran out of the room instead.
When a doctor returned to the room, he immediately called for a blood transfusion for O’Sullivan, to supplement her with additional platelets that would help her blood clot better.
The hospital had nothing available for the ailing mother.
O’Sullivan’s designated transfusions had already been used on another patient.
The hospital staff immediately reached out to nearby hospitals, but none of them could send their platelets over soon enough to save O’Sullivan’s life.
O’Sullivan passed away on the operating table.
Her family has hired lawyers and legal consultants to investigate the situation. The inquest is still currently underway.
