The widowers of women who died at Sligo Regional hospital have been invited to meet with Leo Varadkar today.
Michael Kivlehan and Sean Rowlette both lost their wives after childbirth at Sligo Regional Hospital.
The widowers are calling for assurances that measures are being taken to ensure improved safety of maternity units across the country after verdicts in both cases was medical misadventure.
Both Ms Kivlehan and Ms Rowlette had both developed a severe form of pre-eclampsia called Hellp syndrome before their deaths.
Dhara Kivlehan was only twenty eight-years-old and died at Belfast Hospital in September 2010 from multiple organ failure, nine days after giving birth to the couple’s first child at Sligo Regional Hospital. While Sally Rowlette, who was thirty six-years-old, died in February 2013, after suffering a massive stroke, the day after she gave birth to the couple’s fourth child.
A number of failings were highlighted from both cases, according to the evidence presented by Dr Peter Boylan, the National Maternity Hospital’s clinical director. Insufficient care, delays in treatment and hospital transfer were contributing factors in the women’s deaths.
The men hope to highlight practical issues, like counselling for widows and the excruciating wait for an inquest.
Mr Rowlette and Mr Kivlehan say lessons were not learned in the four years between the deaths of their wives. Both men have stated they are regularly contacted by people worried about the state of our maternity services, in particular, Sligo Regional.
Shara Kivlehan’s inquest case took four years to come to a close, during which time, Sally Rowlette lost her life. Could this death have been saved had we not had to wait so long for the inquest findings? We'll never know. This meeting comes after last week’s frightening news of the audit that was carried out by the HSE, highlighting that the Rotunda maternity hospital is the only hospital out of seven Irish hospitals with the correct system in place.
Watch this space for more on the outcome of the meeting. More rigorous safety systems in place, we can only hope.
