As a fit and healthy 24-year-old, Michelle Murray went into labour with her third child thinking everything would go to plan. Instead, a misdiagnosis meant she was left fighting for her life and had to undergo a radical hysterectomy.
Nearly six years ago, Michelle fell pregnant for the first time. “I was only 19, it was very unexpected,” she says. “But I had a great pregnancy until the labour – which resulted in an emergency caesarean.”
Michelle’s next pregnancy was smooth-sailing, and her planned caesarean was a “peaceful, normal experience – I would have preferred to try a VBAC (vaginal birth after caesarean) – but my doctors advised against it.”
During her third pregnancy, the 20-week scan showed the baby’s placenta was low-lying. Known as placenta previa – the placenta can block access to the birth canal, preventing natural delivery.
“Usually women who are suspected of having a low-lying placenta have a 30 week scan,” explains Michelle. “But my midwife told me I didn’t need one.”
Owing to her two prior caesareans, Michelle was booked in for a planned c-section late last December.
“My waters broke two days before my caesarean was booked and I lost a lot of water and a bit of blood – so we went into the hospital. I had another scan while we were waiting for an anaesthetist, and again the placenta was shown to be low-lying… but again, no one recognised the warning signs.”
What happened to Michelle next plays out like a scene from a horror film. As the surgeon made the incision, the room fell silent, and Michelle says she knew something was horribly wrong.
“The doctor asked me who had performed the 20 week scan,” Michelle says. “It was the worst thing he could say – we thought something was horribly wrong with our baby.”
Clearly upset at the memory, Michelle recounts the doctor saying that her placenta had erupted through the uterine wall – a potentially fatal condition called placenta acreeta. According to the US National Institute of Health, pre-diagnosis of the condition “can help minimise the complication rate by enabling a surgeon to plan for the type of resources needed at the time of delivery.”
In Michelle’s case, the medical team was clearly shocked and left reeling as they realised they were facing an emergency. “The placenta was everywhere, and I began rapidly losing blood. My son was delivered safely – but I didn’t get to see or hold him as I was put under a general anaesthetic,” Michelle recounts, still traumatised by the event.
“I passed out, and woke to find out they had performed a hysterectomy because I had lost so much blood – six litres in total – it was the only way to keep me alive.”
Michelle realises her hysterectomy may not have been preventable even with a pre-diagnosis of placenta accreta, but is angry that no one picked up on her condition before labour.
“I was in shock for such a long time, I didn’t deal with the emotion of the day until about a month later when I realised I wouldn’t be able to have any more children.
“I realise I am lucky to have three healthy kids, but a pre-diagnosis would have meant I could have had counselling before the delivery, and we could have avoided such a traumatic event,” she adds.
Michelle’s case is being used as a case study by her local hospital to prevent her situation from happening again. “Beyond the hysterectomy, I have suffered severe depression, so much so that I wasn’t able to leave the house, or enjoy my kids,” Michelle admits. “I am angry because what happened to me was preventable, the warning signs were there.”
Michelle is working with the Red Cross to increase blood donations. Follow her on Facebook.
