A mum-of-six lost more than half her blood birthing twins. Within hours, she was dead.

An inquiry into the death of a mother who lost more than half her blood during a Caesarian carried out by a trainee surgeon has begun in the UK.

In 2010, mum-of-six Rosida Etwaree was heavily pregnant with twins – one of whom had a heart condition – and suffering from pre-exlampsia. At the recommendation of her consultant, Etwaree underwent a caesarean at the Croydon University Hospital.

During the surgery, which was carried out on June 23, 2010, by trainee surgeon Dr Latika Narang, heavy bleeding on the placental bed began and Narang struggled to close Etwaree’s uterus.

Eventually, consultant obstetrician and gynecologist Britt Clausson stepped in to assist Narang, the court heard but left the operating theatre before the surgery was concluded.

Following the surgery, operating theatre staff estimated 45-year-old Etwaree had lost approximately two litres of blood and was given two units before being stabilised and moved on to a recovery unit.

In reality, though, Etwaree, had lost more than 3.75 litres of blood, over half her body's supply, something Narang says she later discovered and alerted senior staff members to, but not until almost three hours later, the court heard.

Listen: Midwife Cath and the Hello Bump team talk all things labour and caesareans. Post continues... 

Etwaree was also a diabetic and suffered two cardiac arrests set off by the continuing internal bleeding she was suffering. After the first, she was resuscitated, but Etwaree died following the second.

She was one of five mothers who died during or via childbirth complications at Croydon University Hospital that year.

According to Metro, this week, Dr Narang told the court, ‘There was bleeding. I could not see the lower segment, it seemed to have retracted down."

"Rosida had had four children and the lower segment was quite stretched, it loses its elasticity with each pregnancy. I knew I should call for help and I did not want to waste any more time looking for it," Narang told the inquest.

"Ms Clausson arrived pretty quickly. We managed to identify the lower segment pretty much straight away and she put a couple of stitches in the placenta bed before we started closing the uterus," she said, continuing, "Ms Clausson started repairing the first layer and after the first layer was done the bleeding seemed to have stopped. Then we closed the second layer."

On the witness stand, Narang was told, "You should have told someone more senior both on the surgeon side and the anaesthetic side."

In 2012, two years after the tragedy, one of Etwaree's twins, Nabilah, died from a heart defect.

Four years on from Etwaree's death, Croydon Health Services NHS Trust claimed liability for Rosida's death and eventually paid an undisclosed settlement to her husband, Ahamud.

Ahamud, along with other members of the Etwaree family, were present on the opening day of the three-week-long hearing.