Don’t let more C-section mums die like my wife
Widower wants probe into ‘failing’ ward
THE husband of a mother who bled to death after ‘ serious failings’ on a maternity ward has called for an investigation after further blunders at the unit were uncovered.
Ionel Pintilie’s wife Gabriela, 36, lost six litres of blood after giving birth to their daughter via Caesarean section at Basildon University Hospital in Essex in February 2019.
A coroner said there were ‘serious failings’ in Mrs Pintilie’s care and found she was not given available blood products.
A report from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) has branded services at the unit inadequate and said there were six serious incidents in March and April this year where babies were born in a poor condition.
The healthcare watchdog found there were not enough staff to keep women and babies safe and described multidisciplinary teamworking as ‘dysfunctional’.
Mr Pintilie said he was angry so many other families’ lives had been ‘needlessly devastated’ due to failings at the unit, just as his and one-year-old daughter Stefania’s have been. He said: ‘I was devastated when I heard so many other women and babies had been through torment at the maternity unit.
‘It has made me angry as they do not seem to have learnt from the mistakes of the past. I would like to see a full, independent investigation into the unit so that the truth of just how many people’s lives have been so needlessly devastated at the unit can come to light.’
Mr Pintilie, who launched a civil action against Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust which runs the unit, said action was needed to prevent more women from dying.
‘Reading about the report into Basildon has brought the pain of losing Gabriela flooding back,’ he
‘Our loss is immeasurable’
said. ‘When our daughter Stefania had her birthday in February, I didn’t know whether we should celebrate or not as she was born just a few hours before Gabriela died.
‘Our loss is immeasurable, but to hear others have suffered at the hospital... is unacceptable.’
Mr Pintilie’s call comes after similar investigations were launched into alleged failings at maternity units in Shrewsbury and East Kent.
Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust said after the report was published in August that its maternity services were ‘safe to use’ but apologised for not making improvements ‘quickly enough’.
Stephanie Prior, head of medical negligence at Osbornes Law, who represents Mr Pintilie, said: ‘It is clear from the CQC report that the shocking failures of the past that led to Gabriela’s death have not been addressed – in fact they have got worse. ‘It is crucial that an independent investigation is launched to discover the true extent of the failings.’
Diane Sarkar, chief nursing officer for the Trust, said it had accepted all recommendations made by the coroner after Mrs Pintilie’s death, and added that ‘action has been taken to improve our services’.