To think seven Caesareans in eight years is a recipe for disaster?

[ElizabethG81]

What's happened to this woman is horrific, but surely having so many Caesareans in such a short period of time is recklessness bordering on insanity? www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3615027/Mother-eight-relives-nightmare-waking-C-section-discover-legs-amputated.html

Me too sadly. My sister was unconscious with meningitis (having been left on an orthopaedic ward and ignored) while staff forgot to change her drips and administer the strong antibiotics she needed. If my mum hadn't pointed it out very strongly the story could have been different.

Where has the hospital admitted liability?

AugustaFinkNottle , how do you know she diddnt know the risk? how do you know they left her for hours? have you read the case? how do you know the medical checks werent done? your only going of the paper and thats it.

Oh, come off it, shazza, do at least try to put your brain in gear. When you go into hospital, you get the normal risks attached to your procedure explained to you, and you sign something saying you accept those risks. What they emphatically don't ask you to sign is something saying "I accept the risks that the hospital staff will fail to perform basic checks which are the standard procedure after every operation."

Suppose it was your child who had had surgery and who had been left to develop a condition which was totally preventable if hospital staff had done their jobs so that he had to have his legs amputated. Would you be shrugging your shoulders and saying "One of those things" despite the fact that their negligence would mean that he would be left severely disabled for the rest of his life?

It's a bit victim blamey this thread. It may well be the case that the number of c-sections she had in the time scale she had them (or even forget the time scale) put her at risk of certain things. But if indeed she wasn't checked for 6 hours, this particular situation could have been avoided.

So you can say it could have been avoided by her not having so many sections. But severe blood loss, which is what started this, can occur with a 1st natural birth, and you would have to be checked if in an induced coma hourly.

You could say that it could be avoided by not having any children, but severe blood loss can occur in situations other than having children, like road traffic accidents, in which case you would have to be checked hourly.

If indeed she was not checked for 6 hours, then this situation may have been avoided, and she has every right to seek answers.

She had placenta praevia so her birth was not going to be straightforward. Sounds like she had no choice but to have CS, this one was not elective.
Poor woman. I agree, this thread is nasty and judgemental

I had two c sections within 14 months and I didn't think about risks

My heart goes out to that poor women. She has been so naive but also very unlucky

She said that having been through six C-sections already, she was aware of the risks and signed the consent form.

'I wasn't worried at all, I was just excited about meeting my little girl,' she said.

'I remember telling Ian as they sedated me that I was so excited. We were dreaming of a family holiday with with our children - all eight of them.'

In December 2015, doctors delivered Winter Rose weighing 6lb 5oz, but half an hour into the procedure Ella began to lose a lot of blood.
I went from being an active mum to instantly wheelchair bound. I couldn't stop crying

She lost six litres of blood due to a dangerous complication called placenta accreta which can be common with women who have had C-sections in the past.

The placenta grows on the uterine wall and is more likely to attach itself to the wall when there's scarring from previous caesarean sections. The condition increases the risk of haemorrhage, and can even leave other organs damaged.

Doctors performed an emergency hysterectomy on Ella and gave her five blood transfusions - which in almost all cases of placenta accreta is required to save the mother's life.

She was then placed in an induced coma and transferred to intensive care.

Doctors then had to monitor her hourly for the next 24 hours as one of the condition's dangerous side effects is that it causes problems with blood clotting.

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She said: 'I had no idea what was going on. I was put to sleep for the C-section and then put immediately into an induced coma when things started to go wrong.

'I now know it's common for blood to clot in the legs in this situation, so it was imperative they monitored me every hour.'
I thought I was waking up from my C-section. I expected my beautiful little baby girl to be passed to me

But she alleges that doctors forgot to check her and six hours passed before she was seen. By this point, the blood in her legs had clotted and circulation had stopped - starving her lower limbs of blood supply.

Still in an induced coma, Ella was rushed into theatre where two surgeons battled to recover circulation in both legs.

But it was too late, her tissue was giving off poisonous toxins that could be potentially fatal. If doctors didn't act quickly it would spread to other areas of her body and her heart would stop.

In that moment doctors decided to amputate both her legs below the knee. It was a decision that would save her life, but also change it forever.

Doctors informed Ian of the situation and although he was 'shocked' and 'devastated' he told them to do whatever it took to save her life.

After eight hours of surgery Ella was taken to recovery, and five days later she woke up from the induced coma.

She said: 'I remember the moment I woke up. I thought I was waking up from my C-section. I expected my beautiful little baby girl to be passed to me. I had no idea I'd been in a coma.

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'Instead I was told doctors had amputated my legs after complications with my C-section. At the time I was in a haze of medication and I don't think it really sunk in.

'But the reality of the situation soon started to hit home when Winter Rose was placed in my arms and my restricted future flashed before me.

'I remember tears rolling down my cheeks and Ian cuddling me. He was crying too.

'I had so many questions running through my head. But when my daughter was brought to me all of those faded away for a moment.

'Winter Rose was amazing and every bit as beautiful as I'd envisaged. We checked ourselves out of hospital after 23 days and I was a mix of devastation and appreciation.'

In March 2016, Ella received two hours of counselling and prosthetic legs, which after 10 hours of physio she is still trying to get used to.
Ella says that she is devastated that she can no longer be an active mum. Pictured: Winter Rose
+10

Ella says that she is devastated that she can no longer be an active mum. Pictured: Winter Rose

She said: 'I went from being an active mum to instantly wheelchair bound. I couldn't stop crying.

'My five-year-old couldn't look at me without a blanket on because she was scared and my eldest daughter starting falling behind at school. My family was falling apart and I was helpless.'

Ella and Ian demanded answers and a meeting was set up with Torbay Hospital in Torquay.

The couple were informed of the hospital's oversight and were issued an apology.

She said: 'I finally got my apology, but it was five months too late.

'I have eight children to look after, what life can I have now? This has impacted us far worse than you can ever imagine.

'One of my children are worried every time I have to go back into hospital for a check-up. They think I might lose another limb.

'A thoughtless oversight has cost me so much. I will never stand on my own two feet again and that makes me shudder.

'I knew the risks of blood loss, but I never expected to wake up three days later without my legs.'

She says she believes that if doctors had been checking her hourly, she'd be fit and 'be able to play with my beautiful five-month-old baby like any other normal mother.

'Instead I'm a shadow of my former self and my kids are now scared to cuddle me because my stumps scare them.

'I'm now sleeping downstairs in the living room and trying to get used to walking with prosthetic legs, but it's challenging. I'm having counselling to cope with the shock but my whole life has changed forever.'

A spokesman for Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust said: 'We would like to offer our sympathy to Ms Clarke.

'We are carrying out a full and thorough investigation and at this time it is not appropriate for us to make further comment.

'We are in regular discussion with Ms Clarke and her partner to ensure they are kept up to date.'

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so no the hospital have no admitted anything, she was already in a coma to save her life and thats what the nhs is all about, its free and we are so blood god dammed lucky to have it and yet rather than thinking oh a woman has had what 7/8 children and treatment through the nhs and without that what would have happened? i am sorry if you dont like my posts but i am so anti compensation!!!!

Floggingmolly, the hospital have not admitted liability thats just what people are saying on here.

You can be as anti-compensation as you like shazza. You're still wrong to say she knew the risks: as others have pointed out, the risks of the procedure itself are explained and the hospital can reasonably expect a person to have consented to them. Risks of not being given proper treatment are a different thing altogether.

Thought so, shazz...

This is a speciality of the daily mail, they set these people up to be ripped apart. Of course she's made decisions most people wouldn't but if the hospital is at fault post-operatively they ought to pay

No im sorry but the nhs have saved the life of this woman and her baby.

One day when we dont have an Nhs you will be thinking about stories like this.

Actually, the amount of c sections a woman can have safely is entirely dependent on the individual. I have had four and the surgeon said I was in good condition for more if I wanted. Another woman on the same ward had her second and was strongly advised against more.

shazza, which part of "The couple were informed of the hospital's oversight and were issued an apology" are you failing to read?

How do you say she could have developed an untreated thrombosis if the hospital had carried out regular checks on her circulation as required?

I think having that many births would be risky in whatever form.

And what are you basing that on shazza, reading the paper?

The same thing you took issue with another poster for doing?

My SIL sued the nhs after her child was born because the inadequate treatment she recieved resulted in a long term disability.

My SIL consented to the treatment she did not consent to it being done wrong

She could have had other surgery and been in this position. I think the fact she has had a CS is a bit of a red herring. I doubt you'd all be quite so judgemental if she had had bowel surgery. That can also be a lifestyle choice too. ( not always cancer) Although patients are often informed if the risk of getting a DVT, often that in itself doesn't translate in your head as amputation.

We don't judge others for cancer, yet in lots of cases it's due to smoking or obesity.

Can't believe this thread. There was a mistake in her care.

She should have been checked hourly and she wasn't, so that by the time she was checked the circulation to her lower limbs could not be restored.

When my mum was post op and needed checking hourly, it wasn't done, and my dad had to ask. The check showed a problem, and she was suddenly an emergency. Thankfully she is fine. But if my dad hadn't pushed, she might not be.

While I personally wouldn't chose to have this many caesareans etc, the issue is that she was not checked.

No im sorry but the nhs have saved the life of this woman and her baby

and this excuses a lack.of care how exactly

Yes, the hospital did save their lives. But their job was to do more than that. It included making regular checks post surgery when she was in a coma against the risk of thrombosis.

Shazza, you're ignoring my question upthread. Suppose this was your child who had lost his legs as a direct result of the hospital's negligence after, say, an appendicitis operation or for treatment following an accident when he fell off his bike. Would you seriously be perfectly happy about the fact that his life had been ruined, even though it wouldn't have happened if the hospital staff had taken basic care of him?

AugustaFinkNottle, ok i apologise i got that wrong, if the hospital were negible and did not check on her properly then thats wrong, but at the same time you do not go through that amount of cc's without a huge huge risk.

AugustaFinkNottle, I would not be happy but i would not be suing.

Shaza, one of the things that is so wonderful about the NHS is that it has high standards of care and procedures for investigating when those standards are not met. It is not the case that the treatment is free at the point of delivery and therefore everyone should be grateful with whatever they get, regardless of how botched their care is. She has every right to explore whether losing her legs was just a very sad but unavoidable thing that happened to her or whether she lost her legs due to hospital negligence.