INQUEST.

Grey River Argus, Volume XV, Issue 1951, 6 November 1874, Page 2

INQUEST.

An inquest was held yesterday forenoon at the Duke of Edinburgh Hotel, Hospital street, before J. Greenwood, Esq., J.P., on the body of Louise Marguerite Gatjens, who died in child-birth the previous day in the house of Mrs Seebeck, professional midwife. She stated in evidence that the deceased was in her house about a fortnight before her death, and got seriously ill on Tuesday evening about 11 o'clock. On Wednesday morning at half-past three o'clock she was delivered of a fine healthy girl. There was no difficulty in the matter, and everything went on iavorably until 9 a. m. on Wednesday, when the deceased went off in a fainting fit. Vinegar and water were applied to her, and she said she felt better, but wanted do sleep. She complained several times of being faint between nine and ten o'clock on Wednesday, declined to take any stimulants, and went off in a dose. Mr Gatjens arrived about noon, and she at once sent him for a doctor, but when Dr Smith arrived Mrs Gatjens was dead. While Mr Gatjens was away his wife was gasping as if going to faint ; and witness thought she would faint, but never thought she would die. She had been 26 years a midwife, held a diploma from the school at Kiel, Germany, and had very large experience, but she never met with a case of a similar nature before. The deceased was not a strong woman, butthere was nothing in her state of health to lead to the belief that she would have a bad confinement. She had known the deceased for ten years, and during the confinement had used every possible precaution. When the deceased complained of faintness, she offered her brandy and water and tea, but sho would take nothing but a mouthful of cold water. She thought the deceased died from weakness after her confinement. The child was alive and was fine and healthy. Dr P. Smith said he saw the deceased between 12 and 1 o'clock on Wednesday, when he was called in by her husband, and found her dead. She had been dead half an hour. When they sent for him they must have been under the impression that the woman had fainted. That day he had made a post mortem examination of the deceased, and found the body entirely pale. The heart, lungs, and liver I were all very pate, and only a few small clots of blood, in the heart. All the organs were devoid of blood, but they were all ' healthy. There was half-a-pint of fluid

in the stomach, but no solid fluid. A portion of the placenta was left in the womb, which caused a constant dribbling away of blood, after the confinement. He did not think that any midwife could have removed this. His impression was, that undue force had been used after delivery. If the whole of the placenta had been removed at the time, the woman most probably would have lived. He was shown a quantity of blood which had come from the deceased, qnite sufficient to have caused death, considering her weak state of health. The midwife might not be alarmed as the loss of blood was so gradual, but if a proper medical man had been called in he would at once have looked for the cause of the faintings, which ought to have alarmed the nurse at once. An adjournment was made until the afternoon for the attendance of Dr Morice who said he was present at the post mortem examination, and he generally corroborated the evidence given by Dr Smith. A portion of the placenta remained in the uterus which ought to have been removed at the confinement. The cause of death was loss of blood after confinement, and this was accelerated by the non-removal of the portion of the placenta above mentioned, which would tend to keep up a constant draining away of blood. The deceased's organs were all blanched from loss of blood. A medical man would not have left the portion of the placenta where it was. Whenever the faintings came on a medical man ought to have been called in. Any experienced midwife ought to have known, on examination, that the whole of the placenta had not come away ; and some force must have been used to detatch the portion remaining in the womb. He presumed there was no brain disease to concur with the causes of death. From what he had heard of the case, he believed if a proper medical man had been called in, and stimulents, &c, administered, there would have been a hetfcer chance for the deceased. No ordinary midwife ought to have attempted to remove the missing portion of the placenta unless she was properly educated. The jury, after a long deliberation, brought in a verdict that the deceased died from weakness and hemorrhage after ' child-birth ; with the following rider : — " That the jury are of opinion that skilled medical assistance should have been called in sooner."