Articles Posted in Maternal Death Cases

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Qiao Chen, 36, underwent an emergency cesarean section to deliver her twins. After the delivery, she experienced severe uterine bleeding and was transferred to the hospital’s post-anesthesia care unit.

Chen’s bleeding continued, her vital signs deteriorated, and she went into hemorrhagic shock. Hemorrhagic shock occurs when the body begins to shut down due to large amounts of blood loss. If the bleeding isn’t stopped immediately, the risk of death is great.

The emergency room staff administered packed red blood cells of fluid. The treating obstetrician, Dr. Thomas Tuan-Tong Lee, attempted to obtain additional blood products, but they were not readily available.
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Lilia Torres, 34, began spotting during the eighth week of her pregnancy. She went to a hospital where she had an ultrasound. She later followed up with her treating obstetrician after receiving a diagnosis of placental previa and possible placental accrete, a condition in which the placenta attaches too deeply to the uterine wall. For the remaining period of her pregnancy, she saw several obstetricians and midwives at the same medical practice.

At 39 weeks of gestation, two of the obstetricians performed a cesarean section the day after the procedure was scheduled. After the delivery, Torres suffered massive blood loss.

Torres, who lost at least ten liters of blood, suffered cardiogenic and pulmonary shock. Shortly afterward, she died of complications of hemorrhagic shock and multi-organ failure. She was survived by her husband and her four minor children.
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