Pregnant woman died in Dundee hospital due to a rare condition, an inquest has found

A pregnant woman has died in hospital due to a rare life-threatening condition, according to a Fatal Accident Inquiry.

Jacqui Hunter was admitted to Ninewells Hospital in Dundee on May 13, 2020 to give birth to her baby, who had died in utero a day earlier.

The day before, the expectant mother called pregnancy triage and said she was experiencing decreased fetal movement.

It was also found that Ms Hunter had also discussed her concerns with her midwife at the Lochee Medical Practice the day before.

Mrs Hunter and her husband Lori-Mark Quate, from Angus, were told to go to Dundee hospital immediately to undergo an ultrasound scan.

The couple was later told that their unborn child had died.

The 39-year-old was offered an induction of labor to deliver the baby.

Mrs Hunter was prescribed misoprostol, which can start the labor process. The couple were allowed to return home to process the news before returning to Ninewells at 8am the next morning.

During the day, medical teams noticed that Ms Hunter had been given more misoprostol than the recommended dose.

When an epidural injection was to be administered around 2:25 p.m., the 39-year-old fainted. Ms Hunter was taken to theater after becoming unresponsive.

Medical teams attempted to resuscitate the Angus woman, but she went into cardiac arrest at 2.52pm. She was pronounced dead at Ninewells Hospital at 4.29pm.

A post-mortem determined that an amniotic fluid embolism, a life-threatening emergency during childbirth where amniotic fluid enters the bloodstream, was the cause of Mrs Hunter’s death.

After receiving expert advice on the dosage of misoprostol, Sheriff Jillian Martin-Brown made “no formal findings regarding the effect of the overdose” on the death.

However, following the error made by the medical teams in Ms Hunter’s case, there has been a change in prescribing practice at Ninewells Hospital to ensure a similar error does not occur again.

Concluding, Sheriff Martin-Brown said: “Ms Hunter’s death and that of her baby Olivia were extremely tragic, and I would like to express my sincere condolences to Mr Quate and to Ms Hunter’s family, which was reflected in comments from all parties. .”

Follow STV News on WhatsApp

Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country