Doctors Performed C-Section On Crash Victim Even Though She Wasn't Pregnant

A woman involved in a car crash in January, 2018, was given an emergency C-section although she wasn't pregnant. But she died during the surgery due to injuries suffered in the crash.

Doctors in Nettleham, Lincolnshire, in England, performed the surgery on Adele Barbour, 48, who died from a cardiac arrest. Barbour suffered from scoliosis and spina bifida, which made her stomach appear swollen. Due to this, the paramedics who reached the accident scene believed she was eight months pregnant.

Scoliosis is a medical condition where a person’s spine has a sideways curve. People with scoliosis are usually required to wear a brace to straighten their spines. Spina bifida is a birth defect where the membranes and the backbone around the spinal cord are not completely closed. Though there is no cure for this condition. But there are several ways to treat it in very early stages, including surgery before the birth, a Cesarean birth, or surgery after birth.

Paramedics from the East Midlands Ambulance Service informed the Lincoln County Hospital that they were bringing in a woman who appeared to be in her late 30s and pregnant. The doctors at the hospital prepared to save the “mother” and “her unborn child.” According to a report by Lincolnshire Live, thinking her life was on the line, the doctors operated on her.

However, coroner Marianne Johnson said that the surgery was not the reason for Barbour’s death. “The evidence that I have heard is that the initial misdiagnosis [of pregnancy] did not cause or contribute to her death. It appears all efforts were made in her care to save her but her injuries was [sic] so severe the outcome was inevitable,” she said, before saying that she believed the cause of her death was the road collision.

Meanwhile, Barbour’s sister said that the family was not informed of the C-section. Sarah-Jane Spencer told the media that the doctors omitted mentioning anything about the C-section when they told the family that Barbour was being moved to the operating room. They were not informed of it even after Barbour’s death. “The doctor did not communicate the suggestion that she was pregnant or that they had carried out a C-section. The coroner’s office rang the next day and asked me if I was aware they thought she was pregnant, and I said that I knew nothing about it.”

A report on the investigation of the actions of the paramedics and the trauma team, was made public this week. The report concluded that it was Barbour’s appearance that led the team into believing she was pregnant. Based on their observation, what the crew told the hospital was correct, and according to Dr. Anthony Leetman, who produced the report, “It was entirely reasonable to proceed to C-section. The trauma team can only proceed on information that is presented to it. Given the information to the hospital by EMAS, appropriate actions were taken.” He further said that her injury to her aorta was so severe that a lot of people would not have reached the hospital alive.

An inquest was heard about her death where the family was told that even though Barbour was taken to the specialist unit, the chances of her surviving were very slim. Dr. Edward Cowley from the Lincoln County Hospital informed the family that they weren’t aware of her age and were led to believe she was in her late-30s, she would have been a late pregnancy had the information they received been correct. “I watched the obstetrician examine her. They could not definitively say she was not pregnant. If she was pregnant, it was very likely she was bleeding to death from an injury to the uterus,” he said.

He further told the family that team’s priority was to find the things that were killing Adele in the order they were killing her.