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New Mom’s C-Section Scar Tore Open, Had To Hold Her Own Bowl And Intestines For 40 Minutes Until Paramedics Arrived

By Angelica N. Sumter
Published on: 09:43 PST, May 20, 2015

Days after giving birth to her son, a woman’s C-section scar reopened, and she had to hold her own bowel and intestines for 40 minutes until paramedics arrived at her home, according to the Mirror.

On March 24, Sam Bell, 28, of Liphook, Hampshire, had a caesarian section when she gave birth to her second child, Chloe Terman, at St. Hellier’s Hospital. Due to the difficulties she had following a natural birth with her oldest son, Mitchell Terman, doctors advised that a C-section would be the best option.

Although Sam still had stitches in her stomach, she was discharged from the hospital three days later. On March 29, a midwife visited her home to have the stitches removed.

Moments later, as Sam was getting out of bed, she felt an unusual feeling in her stomach. When she opened her trousers to see what it was, she saw that her C-section scar had torn open. She had to hold her bowel and intestines until paramedics arrived 40 minutes later.

“I just felt this twinge. It almost felt like my trousers were stuck to my stomach, so I pulled them open,” Sam said.

“I looked down and as I did that my wound opened and my bowel and intestines just fell out. Obviously I shouted and my partner came running in, and the midwife came running in and that was the only time I looked at it because I just couldn’t bear to look at it anymore.”

“The midwife asked what happened, so I opened my trousers and showed her — she had a fright herself because she’d never seen anything like it before. Then she said ok, just lay down on the bed and they called an ambulance,” she continued.

“That took 40 minutes to come, it took a long time to get there. We waited for the ambulance which eventually came, because it had been so long my partner recalled and said ‘where’s the ambulance?’

They said, ‘well we’ve got your call but we haven’t got an ambulance to bring you, we’re so busy we can’t get one to you.’

So then they increased it to life threatening and then within five, ten minutes the ambulance was there.”

Sam stated that the experience was rather difficult, and it made it “tarnished the joy of becoming a mother.”

“It was quite tough because I was crying but trying not to cry because I didn’t know how much else could come out of me.”

“I just didn’t know what to do, so I just thought lay and breathe deeply. Obviously I did cry because my newborn baby, because I breast feed, was starting to cry so she was just screaming her head off and it was really tough to be honest,” she added.

“Something inside me just said you have to keep it together and stay strong.”

Since Sam’s C-section scar reopened, an investigation has launched to uncover why the tragic event took place, as it is rare for C-section scars to reopen.

“We offer our full and sincerest apologies to Ms. Bell for what must have been a very distressing experience. Immediately following this incident, a full review and investigation was launched,” said a spokesperson at St. Hellier’s hospital.

“The investigation, which is being led by the most senior members of our medical and maternity teams, is still ongoing and as such, we are unable to comment on the details of the case any further.

Once completed, our investigation will allow us to establish what measures, if any, can be taken to avoid a similar event occurring in future.

We will be sharing our findings with Ms Bell and in the meantime, are working with her to ensure we offer full help and support over the coming weeks.”

[Image courtesy of Ian Waldie / Getty Images]

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