Midwife saw blood on delivery room floor after woman gave birth, inquest told

A staff midwife has told an inquest into the death of a 28-year-old woman hours after she gave birth at Mayo University Hospital that she saw blood on the floor of the delivery room.

Marcella Gavin told Coroner for Mayo Pat O’Connor that an incontinence sheet she removed from the right hand side of the bed contained around 10ml of dried blood.

The floor stain was smaller than the palm of her hand but larger than a €2 coin, Ms Gavin said on the second day of Nayyab Tariq’s inquest. She said she asked a healthcare assistant to remove the blood from the floor.

Ms Tariq lived in Ballyhaunis, Co Mayo with her husband Ayaz Ul Hassan. She died in an operating theatre at the hospital on March 22nd, 2020, four hours after giving birth to her first child, a healthy baby girl. The infant was subsequently named Nayyab in honour of her mother.

Ms Tariq died after a cardiac arrhythmia arrest, which had been preceded by post partum haemorrhage, after a procedure to remove the placenta.

‘Sudden gush’

Mr Ul Hassan gave evidence on Monday of being concerned about a “sudden gush” of blood onto the bed linen after Ms Tariq gave birth. He said the amount of blood seemed substantial to him but the attending medics were not overly concerned by it.

However, a number of medical staff present in the delivery room told the inquest they did not recall pooling of blood at any time.

Dr Ike Uzochukwu, registrar in obstetrics and gynaecology, said Ms Tariq had a post-partum haemorrhage of 500ml. After two unsuccessful attempts to remove the placenta, Ms Tariq gave written consent for manual removal following an explanation of the procedure and risks involved.

Dr Uzochukwu said the collection of suctioned blood loss and weighed swabs, including from the labour ward, gave a blood loss of 875ml. The total blood loss was 2.79l, he stated.

Responding to a question from the coroner, Dr Uzochukwu said it was his opinion that Ms Tariq was in relatively good shape – insofar as she had just delivered a baby – when she was moved from the labour ward.

The inquest is expected to conclude on Wednesday when solicitor Johan Verbruggen, for the family, and Conor Halpin SC, for the Saolta Hospital Group, the HSE and the hospital, are due to make closing submissions to the coroner.