Pregnant Scots mum died in Scots hospital due to rare condition, inquiry finds

Tragic Jacqui Hunter was admitted to Ninewells Hospital in Dundee to deliver her baby, who was found to have died in utero the day.

A pregnant woman died at a Scots hospital after suffering a rare complication during labour, an inquiry has found. Jacqui Hunter passed away at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee on May 13, 2020, after being admitted to deliver her baby, who was found to have died in utero the day before

A Fatal Accident Inquiry by Sheriff Jillian Martin-Bown determined that Jacqui passed away after suffering from an amniotic fluid embolism (AFE). This rare and life-threatening complication occurs when a woman gets amniotic fluid into their bloodstream just before, during or immediately after childbirth.

The inquiry reported that on May 12, 2020, the day before her death, Jacqui phoned Ninewells Hospital maternity triage and explained that she was having reduced fetal movements. She said that she had met with her community midwife at Lochee Medical Practice the previous day and explained this.

A midwife noted that the baby’s heartbeat had not been checked the previous day. Jacqui said that she felt the movements had reduced since the day before so she was asked to come straight to Ninewells Hospital.

An ultrasound scan at the hospital learned that the baby had died. Jacqui and her husband Lori-Mark Quate met with a doctor to decide how the baby would be delivered and were offered an induction of labour.

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They agreed and were told the process would involve dosing of the drug misoprostol to get contractions started. After the initial tablet of mifepristone was administered the pair were informed that they could go home to process the news and return to continue the induction process the next day if they wanted.

Jacqui left the hospital and was asked to return the following morning, May 13, at 8am. They returned the following morning but over the course of the day hospital staff noted that she had been given more misoprostol than the guideline dose.

At around 2.25pm as medics were about to administer an epidural, Jacqui fainted. She was placed into the recovery position and minutes later became unresponsive. She was rushed to theatre for further resuscitation but at 2.52pm she suffered a cardiac arrest. Medics battled to save her life but at 4.29pm Jacqui was pronounced dead.

A subsequent post mortem concluded that her death was caused by an amniotic fluid embolism. After receiving expert opinion that the removal of the erroneous dose of misoprostol could not be found to have 'altered the course of events,' Sheriff Jillian Martin-Bown offered no findings on the matter.

Sheriff Martin-Brown concluded: "Ms Hunter’s death and that of her baby Olivia were utterly tragic and I wish to express my sincere condolences to Mr Quate and to Ms Hunter’s family

The Sheriff added: "This was an inquiry which required expert opinion in relation to an extremely rare condition,which was dependent upon detailed factual evidence from a range of clinicians."

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