She died a few hours after giving birth to her son, who is doing well. The Prosecutor's Office has opened an investigation into the death of a 24-year-old woman who entered one of the delivery rooms at Torregalli Hospital in Florence on Thursday.
This is what the Florence edition of the newspaper La Repubblica reported. Immediately after giving birth, the woman suffered a hemorrhage that resolved in the operating room. She was admitted to the gynecology ward, where, however, she suffered another hemorrhagic attack that evening.
Emergency procedures were initiated, and several transfusions were administered while efforts were made to stem the bleeding. The patient also reportedly suffered cardiac arrest and was resuscitated. However, the damage caused by the hemorrhage was too severe , and the woman was pronounced dead yesterday.
The Central Tuscany Local Health Authority immediately reported a "sentinel event," meaning a problem requiring a reassessment of the entire case to determine whether staff or organizational culpability related to treatment protocols was at fault, the statement continues. There was also an intention to order a diagnostic test on the patient's body, but this was not initiated due to the intervention of the Prosecutor's Office. An autopsy has been ordered and will be performed at Careggi Hospital.
"Postpartum hemorrhage is the most common form of obstetric hemorrhage and is a leading cause of maternal mortality and serious morbidity worldwide," according to the guidelines from the Italian National Institute of Health (ISS), which date back several years. "Primary hemorrhage complicates approximately 5-15% of pregnancies and is responsible for 25% of all maternal deaths globally. It is a rare but potentially lethal event that, at times, may go undiagnosed before the woman's condition becomes critical. Early diagnosis, timely and appropriate treatment, and effective teamwork are essential to minimize the risk of death and serious maternal morbidity." The problems, experts explain in the ISS documents, can appear in the first 24 hours after delivery (primary hemorrhage, as it appears in this case), the newspaper continues, or even weeks later (secondary hemorrhage).
