Woman haemorrhaged during birth, NI inquest hears

A Sudanese woman who came to Northern Ireland to give birth died of massive internal bleeding during an emergency caesarean section, a Belfast inquest heard today.

Omayma Taha, a consultant surgeon in the African republic, died in March 2003 at the Royal Maternity Hospital while giving birth to twins.

A post mortem exam carried out revealed that there were nine pints of blood in her abdominal cavity at the time of her death.

The inquest heard that complications set in after the birth of the first twin, a girl.

Her brother, Dr Ibrahim Taha, a registrar obstetrician who has been in Northern Ireland since January 2000, was present at the hospital when his sister died.

Dr Taha said that he had agreed with other doctors that there were problems and a caesarean section should be performed.

He said that after two hours it became apparent that there was a problem with his sister’s recovery from general aesthetic. She also had problems with consciousness and breathing.

He told the inquest that he asked his sister, who was breathing with the help of a tube, whether she wanted it removed and she shook her head. It was the last time he spoke to her.

Pathologist Dr Peter Ingram, who performed the post mortem, said death had been caused by an inter-abdominal haemorrhage caused by a tear in a vein in the womb during the caesarean.

The pathologist said the tear had been stitched up during the operation but after he abdomen was closed her blood pressure was very low.

She was given four units of blood but her blood pressure remained low and she died of cardiac arrest.

Dr Ingram said it appeared the stitches had loosened after her abdominal cavity was closed.

He added: “No surgeon would close an abdomen if they thought there was an active bleeding site. I would say that at the time the decision was taken to close the abdomen they weren’t aware that there was any bleeding going on.”

The inquest heard that the twins, a boy and a girl, are healthy and living in Sudan.