NHS failing women, says mum left disabled after C-section
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A MORAY mum-of-five left disabled after a dangerous pregnancy condition says the NHS is failing to warn women of its risk.
Army wife Kate Edwards (39), from Kinloss, launched a petition last week with Sally Collins, an Oxford University consultant, to the UK Parliament calling for more information on placenta accreta to be provided on C-section consent forms – as the procedure heightens the risk of women being affected by the condition in later pregnancies.
Placenta accreta is a pregnancy condition in which the placenta attaches too deeply into the wall of the uterus. The risk for developing accreta increases with each C-section or uterine surgery. The mother can be at risk of severe blood loss and the rates of maternal death, transfusion and hysterectomy are all increased for women with accreta.
In 2009, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists issued guidelines to hospitals advising that the future risks of accreta should be outlined on C-section consent forms – but Kate said: "You don't hear of the word or the condition until you have it."
Kate "fought tooth and nail" to avoid having C-sections but with every one of her five pregnancies it became medically necessary. She said: "Considering the amount that I did have – not once was I ever told about placenta accreta."
Four years after the birth of her son, Lucas, in 2015, Kate has been left with multiple physical problems and PTSD. At the time the family were based in Ripon, north Yorkshire, where her husband, Mark, was posted before their move to Kinloss.
Kate first heard of the condition when she went for her 20-week scan. She was told the placenta was growing over the neck of her cervix. She said: "A consultant said to me that I had features of accreta. She explained that it's where the placenta fixes onto scar tissue and, because there are no nerve endings on the scar tissue, there is no signal for the brain to stop the placenta from growing. Because there are no nerve signals, it literally bursts through the uterus and seeks to find a blood supply so it sprouts off and can cling to other organs.
"With me, when it burst through, it ruptured my uterus and then clung onto my bladder and into my cervix as well."
Nine women in the UK have died from the condition in the last three years.
Kate had to stay at St James's University Hospital, in Leeds, from 28 weeks' pregnant until nearly 35 weeks. Lucas was born prematurely by vertical incision and shortly afterwards Kate started to haemorrhage. She had to have blood transfusions, a total hysterectomy and bladder reconstruction. Kate also had to live with a catheter for two and a half months. She said: "I lost all the blood in my body."
Her father has since paid out £22,000 for her reconstructive surgery.
Lucas was kept in hospital for 15 days. Kate said: "I didn't bond very well in the beginning with Lucas at all. It was three days before I was able to see him.
"My husband was working, looking after the kids, looking after me and then having to drive the three-hour round trip every single day to go and see Lucas in hospital. And take my milk as well – so it was immense pressure.
"There's nothing in place for women in regards to post-surgical help so you end up having all this happen to you – absolutely life-changing – and then end up on your own."
Kate said that trying to get help with the emotional trauma was continually hindered by the physical problems. She said: "It's changed who I am.
"My husband has had to take on the role of doing everything – and be in the Army. It's hard."
The mum now leads the UK arm of the National Accreta Foundation (NAF) and runs the Facebook support group Women with Accreta. The NAF says incidences of the condition have quadrupled since the 1980s to one in every 272 pregnancies.
Kate said: "I support and fight for women all over the UK as we should be told – not left to find out about the condition at the same time you're diagnosed with it."
Consultant Ms Collins said: "There is no doubt that the incidence of abnormally invasive placenta (AIP – also known as placenta accreta spectrum) is increasing worldwide. As the single greatest risk factor for AIP is caesarean delivery, this rise is most likely due to the rapid increase in the number of caesareans.
"Caesarean delivery is undoubtably needed in many circumstances to improve the outcome for baby and/or mum but there has also been a worldwide rise in non-medically indicated caesarean deliveries.
"Since 2009 the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has recommended that women are informed of the risk of AIP when they consent for a caesarean delivery.
"However, many women feel that they were not appropriately counselled when they decided to have a caesarean.
"Kate’s petition is an attempt to raise awareness among women and healthcare professionals that caesarean is not without consequences for future pregnancies."
People can sign the petition by going to https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/277613.
