Caesarean scar death inquest

A YOUNG mother died wweks after the birth of her longed-for first child as a result of ‘extremely rare’ complications, an inquest heard.

Hayley Constable and her partner Martin Fitzpatrick, 31, had been thrilled when son Alfie was born by caesarean section in 2011, a year after she had suffered a miscarriage.

But the 27-year-old’s scar became infected after she returned home from Fairfield Hospital in Bury, Lancashire.

Despite being given antibiotics by her GP, her condition deteriorated and she was taken to hospital, where she died following a stroke. Yesterday her family claimed doctors had failed to treat the infection promptly and missed a chance to save her life. But a pathologist told the inquest in Rochdale Miss Constable’s death was due to a sequence of complications he had never seen before.

Recording a narrative verdict, coroner Simon Nelson said Miss Constable died ‘due to a rare but recognised complication of necessary surgical intervention’.

Miss Constable’s family are taking legal action against Fairfield Hospital, alleging that she could have lived if guidelines on identifying potentially serious infections had been followed.