Essex mum begged Broomfield Hospital staff 'not to let her die' as she suffered fatal post-birth haemorrhage
A mum tragically died after giving birth to her fifth child when a severe haemorrhage went unrecognised by medical staff for hours. Laura-Jane Seaman, 36, pleaded for her life, saying, "I have five babies at home. Please don't let me die."
Despite her cries for help, the Essex mum was merely given a biscuit and treated for dehydration. Days later, just before Christmas in 2022, she passed away. An inquest has since concluded that her death was "avoidable" and "contributed to by neglect" during her treatment at Broomfield Hospital in Essex.
The coroner's findings highlight a series of failures by the hospital staff that ultimately cost Ms Seaman her life. After a straightforward labour, Ms Seaman initially appeared well, even breastfeeding her newborn son and looking forward to being discharged. Her mother, Sarah, recalls that they had planned to celebrate with a McDonald's breakfast, as they had done after the birth of each of her previous children.
But things took a sudden turn when Ms Seaman began to feel unwell. She repeatedly told staff: "I'm not right. I feel like I'm gushing," indicating an internal bleed. Despite being at high risk for post-partum haemorrhage, her condition was not escalated as it should have been.
Instead of receiving the urgent care she needed, Ms Seaman was given a biscuit and her observations were improperly recorded, handwritten on a cardiotocography print-out rather than on the appropriate chart that would have flagged her deteriorating condition.
Sarah tearfully recalled their final conversations, where Ms Seaman repeatedly told staff: "I'm dying. Help me." Two days later, after enduring multiple operations and cardiac arrests, Ms Seaman died.
This week, area coroner Sonia Hayes determined that Ms Seaman's death resulted from "basic failings to recognise a loss of consciousness as a maternal collapse." The coroner also noted a failure to escalate her care to senior staff, which could have activated life-saving procedures.
In response, a spokesperson from the hospital trust expressed their "sincerest sympathies and condolences" to Ms Seaman's family and stated that they have since focused on improving training to prevent such tragedies in the future.
For her mother Sarah and eldest daughter Amie, the knowledge that these "basic" mistakes led to Ms Seaman's death is devastating. Amie said: "At the time, we really believed (the staff) were doing all they could."
Sarah, who initially thanked the medical team for giving them an extra two days with her daughter, now feels "heartbroken" over the care Ms Seaman received. Amie described her as caring and fun, always singing and dancing, and now struggles with the loss of her mother who "gave us the best childhood”.
Camilla Browne, a solicitor from Leigh Day who supported the family during the inquest, said Ms Seaman's case was one of the worst she had been involved in due to the "significant amount of failings of just providing basic care” and said it was not the first time they had heard of something like this going wrong, “especially in the last couple of years”.
She added: "So the maternity crisis is abhorrent. And I think it goes back to just doing the basic thing, taking basic vital observations, inputting them into the chart and doing good handovers and, you know, escalating when you need to escalate."
Diane Sarkar, chief nursing and quality officer for Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, said: "We thank the coroner for her detailed review and have listened carefully to her comments and the evidence heard at inquest, all of which will inform our efforts to continue to improve maternity services at the Trust."