We may sue hospital say family of mother killed by E.coli bug

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An inquest heard Patience Armah was "overwhelmed" by septic shock brought on by the bacteria in her womb after her waters broke five months early.

Only hours after developing a mild fever Mrs Armah, 35, who was 20 weeks pregnant, suffered multiple organ failure and died.

The devout Christian, a station officer with Southern Railway, had a history of difficult pregnancies.

Her devastated husband, maths teacher Emmanuel Armah, said after a inquest recorded a narrative verdict: "They said it was so rapid they could not do anything about it. Her death hit us all hard but we are coming to terms with it."

Mr Armah and sons Prince, 15, Derrick, 13, Gordon, five, and Emmanuel, three, are now trying to rebuild their lives.

The family, from Mitcham, is also in discussions with lawyers to see if there is a case for compensation. Mr Armah said: "The whole of our family has been destabilised by this, we are still trying to get back to normal - as normal as we can be without Patience."

Consultant pathologist Professor Sebastian Lucas told the inquest: "It wasn't the bacteria that killed her, it was her body's over-reaction to the infection. She was overwhelmed."

The hearing was told Mrs Armah nearly died when her first son had to be delivered early by emergency Caesarean. She lost eight pints of blood and suffered complications.

On 2 April Mrs Armah was admitted to St George's Hospital in Tooting after her waters broke.

She appeared to be "fine", Westminster Coroner's Court heard. But the following morning she complained of feeling unwell and had a fast pulse and raised temperature. Doctors diagnosed an infection and gave her antibiotics.

As her condition worsened, medics decided to abort the baby to remove the site of the infection. But she continued to deteriorate and her heart stopped as she was being transferred to intensive care. Doctors could not revive her.

Deputy coroner Shirley Radcliffe said Mrs Armah's deterioration had been "unusually rapid and nothing more could have been done to save her".