Hospital found lacking in deaths of woman, baby

A coroner's report into the deaths of a 32-year-old woman and her baby at Hull Hospital has found that a lack of training and emergency caesarean kits may have contributed to the deaths.

Marie-Jacque Fortin collapsed at her home on March 7, 2016, suffering from respiratory distress. She was 39 weeks pregnant.

Her spouse called 911 and paramedics treated her at the scene for 24 minutes before takingFortin to Hull Hospital. Her heart had stopped twice.

The hospital was close to thehomebut doesn'thave an obstetrics department, so an obstetrician had to be brought in from Gatineau Hospital. An emergency caesarean section was finally performed about 36 minutes after she arrived at the hospital, and an hour after paramedics first arrived at her home.

It was too late. The woman had died of an amniotic embolismand her baby, named Alexie,did not survive.

Delay a concern

Coroner Pascale Boulay found they bothwould have had a better chance of survival if the emergency caesareanhad been performed sooner.Medical literature calls for an immediate caesarean on patients whoare more than 20 weeks pregnant if CPR isn't working.

She recommended that the government improve training for frontline staff, and that hospitals be equipped withemergency caesarean kits at all times.

Le Centre intgr de sant et de services sociaux de l'Outaouais(CISSSOutaouais), which manages the Hull Hospital, said it'salready working to address therecommendations, which it received last week.

The hospital's spokesperson,Genevive Ct, said theirthoughts are with Fortin's family and that they'reworking to put the emergency caesareankitsin place and train staff.

Fortin's spouse, Jean-Philippe Bousquet, called the coroner's report and recommendations "a step in the right direction," he said in French.

Hesaid he finds it shocking and infuriating that the deaths happened in a large urban centre like Gatineau, and said he hopes no other family suffers a similar tragedy.

"You'd think a trauma centre would be able to address all situations," he said on CBC Radio'sOttawa MorningFriday.

"It's not the first time a woman gives birth and it's not the first time a medical emergency affects a pregnant woman," Bousquet said. "Ithink what happened is they didn't take the right approach, it led to series of mistakes and a domino effect of poor decisions."

He's also calling on CISSSOutaouaisto better supportvictims of similar tragedies, saying that he left the hospital after the deaths feeling abandoned, and that no helpfrom a social worker was provided.