KEY POINTS:
A pregnant woman with a chronic heart condition, who died after giving birth to a still-born child, could have lived with better care, the Health and Disability Commissioner says.
Ron Paterson investigated the care of the unnamed woman by an unnamed district health board and issued his report at the weekend.
The woman, called Ms B in the report, became pregnant in early 2004. Thirty weeks later, her baby was stillborn after an emergency caesarean. Ms B died in the hospital's cardiac wing four hours later.
The woman's sister said Ms B had wanted to end the pregnancy when it appeared it could threaten her life.
Her wishes had been overridden and minimised by the medical staff.
"[Ms B] often pleaded with them that 'you aren't having me be a baby incubator and then letting me die'."
Mr Paterson's report blamed "poor external and internal communications and inadequate care planning" for the woman's death.
"Ms B was effectively deprived of the opportunity to make informed choices about her care.
"The tragedy of this case is compounded by the fact that had Ms B been provided with full and timely information, she may have survived."
Mr Paterson's report criticised the 15-week delay in assessing the woman's heart condition as it related to her pregnancy, saying it was 15 times longer than recommended.
- NZPA
