Young mother and baby died after hospital failed to check if she was pregnant |
Zoe Tighe had gone to the James Paget Hospital (JPH) on four occasions over a six week period complaining of lower abdominal pain.
She was treated for a recurring urinary tract infection (UTI) but medics did not carry out a pregnancy test on the 22-year-old, who did not know she was expecting.
Zoe Tighe died in June 2023 aged 22 (Image: Facebook)
Just over a fortnight later, she collapsed at home and was taken by ambulance to hospital, where she was diagnosed with sepsis.
Finally, a scan revealed she was 14 weeks pregnant, although the baby had already died as a result of the infection.
Miss Tighe, who worked as a beauty therapist and nail technician, was transferred to the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital, where she died having suffered three cardiac arrests shortly after giving birth.
Norfolk Coroner's Court, at County Hall in Norwich. (Image: Newsquest)
An inquest into her death, held at Norfolk Coroner's Court this week, has raised questions over whether both lives could have been saved if her pregnancy had been detected earlier.
Speaking to area coroner Johanna Thompson, the legal representative for Miss Tighe's family said: “One of the questions is whether there being no pregnancy testing performed has altered the flow of events at all, and whether not performing the pregnancy test has caused or materially contributed to Zoe’s death.
“Pregnancy tests ought to have been performed on several occasions at the JPH."
James Paget University Hospital (Image: James........