'Neglect' contributed towards death

After an inquest verdict, the family of Ana Maria Denzo, 30, said they were "concerned" to learn that three other people have died at the Northwick Park Hospital unit since her death in March 2005.

Mrs Denzo's death triggered a Healthcare Commission investigation and the north-west London unit was placed under special measures.

North London coroner Andrew Walker recorded that Mrs Denzo's death was "contributed to by neglect" and there had been "ongoing failures" in her care. Mrs Denzo, 30, bled to death after the operation at her own hospital.

The first-time mother of Ealing, west London, had been admitted just after midnight on February 23 2005. In a slow labour she was given the drug oxytocin, which stimulates contractions, but no progress was made, north London's Hornsey Coroner's Court was told.

The coroner ruled: "Mrs Denzo's death was contributed to by neglect as the delivery of her baby would have taken place when the use of oxytocin had produced hyper contraction of the uterus without any progression of her labour." The baby, a healthy girl called Areanne, was delivered at 4.05pm.

After the birth, Mrs Denzo suffered a haemorrhage. She was later brought back into surgery and had a hysterectomy during which a vein was torn. It is unclear how this happened, the court heard.

Overnight, Mrs Denzo suffered a catastrophic loss of up to 10 litres of blood and she was brought back into surgery the next morning.

The coroner ruled: "From 10.30 in the evening there were ongoing failures in the care of Mrs Denzo which represented a lost opportunity to treat the haemorrhage from the injured vessel."

She was transferred to St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, central London, but died on March 19 2005.