Bernadette Horsey: Mum died of natural causes giving birth, coroner says

Aaron Horsey with his son, Tim, and a picture of his wife Bernadette

A mother who went into cardiac arrest moments after her baby was delivered died of natural causes, a coroner has concluded.

Bernadette Horsey, 31, died shortly after giving birth to baby Tim at the Royal Derby Hospital in January 2022.

There were "no missed opportunities or shortcomings" in her care, the coroner told the inquest.

Mrs Horsey's husband Aaron from Beeston, Nottinghamshire, thanked medics following the inquest on Friday.

Speaking after the three-day hearing at Derby Coroner's Court, Mr Horsey said it had been a "tough" few days but said their son was doing well.

Mrs Horsey died in January 2022

He said: "I just want to give my respect and thanks to both the coroner's service and the clinicians who attended today.

"It has been a really tough day, a tough few days for all of us, and they've done their utmost to make sure that the questions that were asked were answered.

"It has been an incredibly long and tough journey, not just for me but for Bernadette's wider family.

"We've had to revisit this again and again in exploring all of the possible options so it really has been difficult.

"Tim is doing excellently, he'll have been causing mischief no doubt these last few days and I've really missed having him there while we've gone through this process.

"It was a really tough and complicated case to go through."

Death by natural causes

The inquest had heard Mrs Horsey, a biomedical scientist, suffered a "profound, catastrophic collapse" moments after Tim was delivered and doctors had previously raised no concerns about her health during a planned Caesarean section.

A pathologist told the the inquest that he could not find a clear cause of death but Louise Pinder, assistant coroner for Derby and Derbyshire, said she was satisfied that the clinicians' conclusion that Mrs Horsey died of an amniotic fluid embolus was correct.

Ms Pinder said while an amniotic fluid embolism, where amniotic fluid enters the bloodstream and causes a reaction which can stop the heart, was "extremely rare", it is still a "recognised event" that can happen during childbirth.

Mrs Horsey worked as a biomedical scientist for Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) NHS Trust

The coroner said Mrs Horsey had been appropriately categorised as low risk, there was no evidence of any infection or any errors with medication and there were "no missed opportunities or shortcomings" in her care.

Recording that Mrs Horsey died of natural causes, Ms Pinder said: "She was being adequately and appropriately monitored and resuscitation attempts were well organised but ultimately unsuccessful."

Addressing Mr Horsey and Mrs Horsey's father, who both attended each day of the inquest, she said: "I offer you both my sincere condolences.

"I don't want to appear patronising but I have been struck by your poise during this inquest, the dignity with which you have both behaved is noted and acknowledged."

Garry Marsh, executive chief nurse at University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust, said: "Our heartfelt condolences very much remain with Aaron and his family at the loss of Bernadette, who was found to have tragically died of natural causes.

"We welcome Aaron's continued close working with us so that we can use his personal experience to support and shape the changes and improvements we are making."