Teegan Barnard: Havant teen mother's death 'hopefully not in vain' - family

Teegan Barnard's mother Abbie Hallawell described the inquest as "incredibly traumatic"

The mother of a 17-year-old who died giving birth has said she hopes her death "wasn't totally in vain".

Teegan Barnard, from Havant, Hampshire, suffered a cardiac arrest and brain damage two hours after she gave birth at St Richard's Hospital in Chichester, West Sussex, in September 2019.

A delay in recognising the cause "made a material contribution" to the death, an inquest found.

Abbie Hallawell said she wanted "improvements" to "help other mums."

Ms Barnard underwent an emergency caesarean but on emergence from a general anaesthetic she sustained an "irrecoverable" brain injury, following a prolonged cardiac arrest.

A delay in recognising the cause of Teegan's cardiac arrest "made a material contribution" to her death, an inquest found

West Sussex's senior coroner Dr Karen Henderson concluded it was the result of "bilateral tension pneumothoracies", in which air collects between the chest wall and the lung.

She said the cause remained unclear but the delay in the "recognition and treatment thereof made a material contribution to her death".

Ms Barnard died two weeks later.

'Hurt and pain'

Ms Hallawell described the inquest as "incredibly traumatic" but needed to honour Teegan's memory.

She said Teegan's son Parker would grow up "fully understanding what he meant to Teegan, how much she loved him and how proud she would have been of him".

She added: "All we can hope for now is that her death wasn't totally in vain and improvements are made to help other mums.

"We wouldn't wish the hurt and pain we continue to live with on anyone else."

Abbie said Teegan's son Parker would grow up "fully understanding what he meant to Teegan"

Rebecca Brown, specialist medical negligence lawyer at Irwin Mitchell, said: "Sadly it's too late for Teegan and her family but it's now vital that lessons are learned from what happened to her to improve patient safety."

Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust said it was "determined" to act upon "all possible learning".

Medical director Tim Taylor said the circumstances were "extremely rare" and "deeply affected everyone involved".

He said the trust was determined that "all possible learning from the inquest will be acted upon" and would continue to improve services for the women and children in its care.