Mother Has 4 Limbs Amputated After Home Birth

http://www.khou.com/home/Kingswood-...imbs-amputated-after-home-birth-91858109.html

This is so sad! The mother was in good health and gave birth to a baby girl at home, now because of infection she has had all 4 of her limbs amputated.
In the comments section someone is saying they decided on the home birth because of not having insurance.

VB

That's horrible!
That also happened to a woman who gave birth in a hospital.

This happened to a woman who got a tiny cut on her little finger (saw it on the Discovery Health Channel), got the necrotizing fasciitis (sp) that is. It seems to be more about the interaction between the bacteria and the immune system of the individual, than any activity CAUSING or predisposing the infection. People swim in infested lakes all the time, and one little boy gets a life threatening infection and loses part of his face (read that on here). Home birth is hardly the cause of this infection . . . and for me, I'd not choose a home birth or encourage one. It's a coincidence not a cause.

Sounds to me as if the amputations were the result of this woman ignoring the signs of illness (delaying seeking medical care) NOT because she gave birth at home. JMHO.

I'm an RN but not an infectious disease expert but from what little I understand, the disease process of this sort of infection is so fast that it is "too late" by the time the symptoms are noticed The toxins created by the bacteria are the problem, even with early antibiotics and dead bacteria, the toxins still wreak their havoc.

I really, really feel badly for this poor woman and her family. All this said, what an unspeakable tragedy and hardship

I get what you're saying, but the article says that she delayed going to the emergency room for 4 DAYS.

PeteyGirl said:

I'm an RN but not an infectious disease expert but from what little I understand, the disease process of this sort of infection is so fast that it is "too late" by the time the symptoms are noticed The toxins created by the bacteria are the problem, even with early antibiotics and dead bacteria, the toxins still wreak their havoc.

I really, really feel badly for this poor woman and her family. All this said, what an unspeakable tragedy and hardship

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T-Rex said:

That's horrible!
That also happened to a woman who gave birth in a hospital.

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Yes, last year in Orlanda, I think. She had immediate medical attention, too! This seems to be extremely fast moving, but as is true with many illnesses, the integrity of the individual's immune system helps with resistance.

OT, but 30+ years ago, I gave birth at home. It was a wonderful experience. An hour after birth I was on my feet with new baby in arms, cheerfully and painlessly greeting family arriving to visit. The next day, I drove myself to the doctor for a postpartum visit. Two years later I repeated the experience with my second child, walking upstairs 45 minutes before the birth, and walking back downstairs 2 hours after the birth. I know I was very fortunate, but I also made it a deliberate point to be very very healthy and prepared during the pregnancy.

Marie said:

I get what you're saying, but the article says that she delayed going to the emergency room for 4 DAYS.

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I hear you . . . the family probably didn't want to be socked with a $1000 bill over something that might go away on it's own. Who would have thought it was a flesh eating bacteria rather than the flu?

It's just a hideous tragedy . . . no doubt this poor family is thrashing itself for NOT going to the ER long before. Most people (including myself) would not zero in on a few symptoms and assume there is a flesh eating bacteria going on. It's irresponsible of the media to pair it up with a coincidental home birth either.

PeteyGirl said:

I hear you . . . the family probably didn't want to be socked with a $1000 bill over something that might go away on it's own. Who would have thought it was a flesh eating bacteria rather than the flu?

It's just a hideous tragedy . . . no doubt this poor family is thrashing itself for NOT going to the ER long before. Most people (including myself) would not zero in on a few symptoms and assume there is a flesh eating bacteria going on. It's irresponsible of the media to pair it up with a coincidental home birth either.

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(emphasis mine) Absolutely agreed.

I wonder if the Strep A she had was MRSA? Bless her this is just awful. Such a pretty young woman. I wouldn't have paired this with home birthing as the reporter did, because I also remembered the other young woman when I read the article.

Was this reporter trying to create more interest in his/her article by doing that or were they uninformed about the other woman? I think it would create more interest if it were presented as a rare but very serious complication from child birth period regardless of where or which method the Mother chooses to deliver her child. JMHO.

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Kat said:

Was this reporter trying to create more interest in his/her article by doing that or were they uninformed about the other woman? I think it would create more interest if it were presented as a rare but very serious complication from child birth period regardless of where or which method the Mother chooses to deliver her child. JMHO.

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Who knows if this reporter was trying to capitalize on controversy, personally disapproves of home birth, or is simply uneducated about birthing. In any case, I strongly disapprove of the implied correlation -- taking focus off of relevant facts of the case and creating a larger unrelated issue surrounding a person's tragedy.

(Note: Journalists have done the same with some awful cases of neglect and abuse that took place in homeschooling families, as if those terrible cases happen BECAUSE families choose to homeschool. Homeschooling and homebirth are hot buttons to begin with.)

I developed a raging infection after the hospital birth of my first child. Thanks to God that I didn't end up like this mom. I'd been sent home and had night sweats for two nights, feeling miserable but didn't realize I was sick until I was nearly delirious and my temp was 104 when I got to ER.

That drove me to home birth. We've planned home births for all of our subsequent children, with one ending up a non-emergency transport and vaginal birth in the hospital. With my last pregnancy, I actually ended up with an infection at 39 weeks. We were never able to culture the exact organism (gram positive bacteria was all we got), but we were debating a hospital induction for 24 hours. I had two amniocentesis done, since the first was unable to hit a large enough pocket of fluid, to rule out infection actually in the amniotic sac. Since there was no infection in the baby, we declined induction and had a rapid and lovely home birth at 41 weeks.

Infections can happen after a home birth, hospital birth, car birth, whatever. They are scary things! I hope her midwife strongly urged medical treatment repeatedly and charted it! But in the end it is the family's decision to delay treatment, with disastrous results in this case. I feel so bad for this woman. I feel like I could easily have been her.

It is sooo important for hospital and home birth workers to coordinate care. In some states, people fear to transport because of the reception they will encounter. This is not good for safety! I am so grateful that in all we have gone through with our pregnancies and births, when we have needed further care, we have been treated with respect. I can't say if this was a factor for this family, but it should be considered.

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mom2six said:

]It is sooo important for hospital and home birth workers to coordinate care. In some states, people fear to transport because of the reception they will encounter. This is not good for safety! [/B] I am so grateful that in all we have gone through with our pregnancies and births, when we have needed further care, we have been treated with respect. I can't say if this was a factor for this family, but it should be considered.

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Thanks so much for sharing your birth story, mom2six.

Yes, I think this fact is overlooked far too often! Skilled midwives insist on a strong relationship, cooperation, and preparedness between midwife, doctor, and patient. The point is to obtain urgent care immediately if/when it's necessary, before, during, and after the birth! This points NOT to a deficit of attention to detail, but instead, an intensification of it.

I agree wholeheartedly with the point that's been made throughout this thread: this kind of infection is possible with any kind of childbirth -- NOT homebirth only, or even more likely during a homebirth. I'd hope the media would devote its resources and efforts more to the pursuit of knowledge and information about the infection itself rather than drawing dotted lines to irrelevant factors for the sake of controversy (or because of a lack of education).

Katy's fb http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/katy.m.hayes?ref=search&sid=100001054174360.4180762935..1

My heart is so broken reading through her fb...danm how does stuff like this just happen!

momtective said:

Katy's fb http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/katy.m.hayes?ref=search&sid=100001054174360.4180762935..1

My heart is so broken reading through her fb...danm how does stuff like this just happen!

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and to see her pregnancy photos Heartbreaking.

momtective said:

Katy's fb http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/katy.m.hayes?ref=search&sid=100001054174360.4180762935..1

My heart is so broken reading through her fb...danm how does stuff like this just happen!

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Absolutely tragic. She wasn't feeling well even before the birth - wonder if she was already fighting something. Plus a late baby has some increased risks.

Prayers for her and her family. I cannot imagine having this happy time in your life overshadowed by such pain and fear.

And while I would never have chosen a home birth, ITA about the media being incredibly irresponsible by trying to link these events. I got a doozy of an infection right after my middle one was born, and it was hard to know if I was feeling so bad b/c of the c-section or because I was sick. My mom used to be a nurse, and even she wasn't sure until my fever got pretty high. Let me tell you, I went from not feeling great for a day or so to REALLY sick in a very short time.

Kat said:

I wonder if the Strep A she had was MRSA? Bless her this is just awful. Such a pretty young woman. I wouldn't have paired this with home birthing as the reporter did, because I also remembered the other young woman when I read the article.

Was this reporter trying to create more interest in his/her article by doing that or were they uninformed about the other woman? I think it would create more interest if it were presented as a rare but very serious complication from child birth period regardless of where or which method the Mother chooses to deliver her child. JMHO.

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MRSA is methycillin resistand STAPHOLOCOCCUS aureus, the evil cousin of streptococcus (which is what this woman had).

I agree the reporter was shooting for interest and exploiting the controversy about home birth. I'm guessing she was infected with strep A during the birth, but it's possible she could have contracted it through any break in the skin/mucous membrane any time after. The woman on DHC contracted it via a tiny cut on her little finger. We injure ourselves like this all the time.

I've read (sorry, no remembered sources ) that it takes a particular mix of a persons immune system response to a certain bacteria, that you and I would shrug off, to cause such a terrible calamity as this woman had. Perhaps the way the immune system is suppressed during pregnancy?

When I worked at Harborview in Seattle, they flew in a 17 year old boy who was cut on a tractor blade in Montana while working on the family farm. He too developed necrotizing fasciitis and all of his limbs were amputated to save his life. He did not survive this. I have a little farm and open cuts from fencing or wranging with bird claws and beaks and get inoculated with soil in them every day. If this organism caused EVERYONE to develop NF I'd have been dead years ago, and so would most of humanity.

You don't even have to be up to your armpits in filth (like I am every day at home AND at work ) to get this infection. It hits like lightening strikes from what literature I have read over the years.

Terrible So very sad!!!

And even more sad that they took the homebirth vs. hospital birth angle. Growl. The reporting was awful. They didn't give statistics or even really talk about what infection she had and how it was caused. It certainly wasn't CAUSED by having a homebirth. Growl. I have had everything from a c-section to an unassisted homebirth and in between. This is just a tragic thing that happened and for the homebirth argument to be tossed into it makes it even worse.

Here is a FB prayer group.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=343063085090#!/group.php?gid=343063085090

momtective said:

Katy's fb http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/katy.m.hayes?ref=search&sid=100001054174360.4180762935..1

My heart is so broken reading through her fb...danm how does stuff like this just happen!

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Her husband is also keeping a fantastic blog! Search her full name and it should pop up near the top. He is so disappointed in the tone and scope of the article that was done. This is an amazing family. I pray that Katy heals with no more setbacks and can go home to her family as soon as possible. It sounds like they are in as good spirits as one can hope.