17 year old may have suffered brain damage caused by medication after giving birth
An inquest has heard that in September 2019 Teegan Barnard, aged 17, suffered cardiac arrest within two hours of giving birth at St Richard's Hospital in Chichester and later died at home on October 7th, 2019. She had suffered postpartum haemorrhaging, where mothers lose significant amounts of blood in labour, then underwent a caesarean section and was given Carboprost to control the bleeding. The inquest heard that Teegan may have suffered brain damage caused by this medication.
Carboprost is a hormone which is widely administered in childbirth emergencies, but it may have caused an 'undocumented adverse response' when given to Teegan. Evidence suggested there was not an allergic reaction and a medical expert, Professor Robert Forrest told the inquest it was a 'very rare complication indeed'.
A lawyer for Teegan’s family suggested the amount of Carboprost given to her 'increased the risk' she faced and Professor Robert Forrest accepted this was possible but noted that the dose Teegan received was in line with national guidelines. He added: 'Nobody should be worried about using Carboprost in an appropriate clinical setting because of Teegan's tragic case.'
Teegan's mother and father have instructed expert medical negligence lawyers as they demand answers at the inquest.
Tozers' clinical negligence specialist Stuart Bramley writes: “Not just Teegan’s family but all parents-to-be need to know more about any link between the use of Carboprost, commonly used to address maternal bleeding, and Teegan’s death. From the information to date it does not seem that this girl had any of the known risk factors, so I hope the inquest or any subsequent investigations arising from that provide greater knowledge of any dangers facing those giving birth”.
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