Light shed on new mum’s death

Lisa and her son Zac

EXPERTS believe the tragedy of a mother who died only two days after giving birth was due to sudden adult death syndrome.

After two years of campaigning to find out the cause of Lisa Parkisson’s death, her family finally heard evidence at her inquest in Heywood yesterday.

Lisa aged 35, from Derker, died at the Royal Oldham Hospital on June 23, 2014, after giving birth to baby Zac — her first child.

She was found unconscious by a midwife two days after her Caesarian section and a team spent an hour and a half trying to revive her.

Three expert witnesses Professor Sebastian Lucas, Professor Georgina Howard and Professor James Walker gave their evidence to coroner Lisa Hashmi on what they believed the cause of death was.

Professor Howard said that Lisa’s body had shown signs of disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) which can happen in people who have suffered trauma and shows damage to the organs.

However Professor Lucas said that the evidence of DIC was more likely a result of the resuscitation process that Lisa received.

He said: “Much of what we have heard today is attributable to the resuscitation.

“There was no sepsis, there was no traumatic pulmonary embolism after the pregnancy.

“We have no cause of death, this is someone who was left in the hospital who has been seen alive and sleeping and the next time she is not there. The crash team came in and unfortunately she is dead.”

The autopsy did little to highlight the cause of death but managed to rule out certain possibilities and this is why the sudden adult death syndrome (SADS) has been suggested.

Professor Walker said: “Lisa had no signs before or after delivery, the baby had no infection and so there was no evidence.

“If she had an infection we would expect that infection to be present in her.”

SADS is the sudden unexplained death of an adult which cannot be attributed even after a post mortem examination, It is often linked to people who have genetic heart defects which do not become apparent until an incident occurs.

The family has been working tirelessly since Lisa’s death to find answers and has concerns about the way they received the medical notes from Pennine Acute Hospital NHS Trust — notably in a B&Q car park.

They were further concerned when their solicitor received a new set of notes with a backdated entry added to it by the staff member who gave them the original notes, something they made clear to the coroner.

The inquest resumes today when the coroner is expected to give a verdict.