Teegan Barnard lost nearly 4 liters of ʙʟᴏᴏᴅ when she gave birth to her 9kg baby by ᴄᴇsᴀʀᴇᴀɴ sᴇᴄᴛɪᴏɴ in 2019. The 17-year-old girl experienced ʟᴀʙᴏʀ during ʟᴀʙᴏʀ with a “bigger than expected” baby when the baby can’t get out of the pelvis. Within two hours of giving birth to their son, Parker, the 17-year-old girl’s condition worsened significantly, and “her lips turned blue” as she had breathing problems. The mother had suffered severe cardiac arrest and ʙʀᴀɪɴ ᴅᴀᴍᴀɢᴇ during ʟᴀʙᴏʀ.
This was a complicated case at St Richard’s Hospital in Chichester, West Sussex, on 7 September 2019. She ᴅɪᴇᴅ at her home in Havant, Hants, four weeks later. It was announced today that under NHS guidelines Teegan could have been offered ʟᴀʙᴏʀ at 38 weeks – three weeks before she finally gave birth – but it was not. Investigators from the Health Care Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB) said it would be the “best” and “appropriate” method for paramedics to induce ʟᴀʙᴏʀ caused by Teegan.
A mother is given medication to help start the birthing process. Instead, Teegan’s baby son had grown and “in retrospect, he would have contributed to the ʀɪsᴋ of postpartum ʜᴇᴍᴏʀʀʜᴀɢᴇ”, the investigators said. Debbie Laing, head of maternity investigation at HSIB, said the baby “would have been smaller” if Teegan had been offered and agreed to go into labor at 38 weeks to affect the outcome,” she said. She added: “It’s important for the baby to have a chance to grow and to have an increased risk of postpartum ʜᴇᴍᴏʀʀʜᴀɢᴇ.
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“We would say it’s best to give the induction earlier.” But Ms Laing added that it was “unpredictable” that Teegan would experience postpartum ʜᴇᴍᴏʀʀʜᴀɢᴇ. Attorney Adam Walker, representing the Teegan family, suggests that, at 38 weeks, it is “foreseeable” that the baby will grow to over 4kg. Midwife Sally Walters, who has cared for Teegan since eight weeks, said: “When I took care of her, I didn’t expect a big baby.” The HSIB says it has made a safety recommendation to ensure labor induction is given appropriately.
The investigation also said Teegan may have had an underlying infection that led to his temperature rising and may have gone into anaphylaxis during childbirth. Teegan vomited at 11 p.m. on September 8, 2019, shortly before going into ʟᴀʙᴏʀ early on September 9, and her pulse increased to 119 beats/min. Her family said the teenager – who was pictured holding her newborn in hospital – was looking forward to becoming a parent and would be a “wonderful mother”. “Teegan has a big personality and is full of life,” says her mother, Abbie Hallawell.
She added: “Teegan and the rest of the family are delighted she is pregnant. She really wants to be a parent and she will be a great mother. It still didn’t seem like the best day of Teegan’s life had tragically ended and changed all of our families forever. It’s been more than two years since Teegan passed away, but time hasn’t stopped for all of our family. Teegan would be so proud of Parker and what a happy kid he is growing every day. Although he will grow up without his mother, he will always know how much Teegan loves him and that she will always be part of our family.”
