Clinical Negligence & Catastrophic Injury Solicitors
Surgeon removed healthy fallopian tube.
A woman who suffered an ectopic pregnancy is unable to have children naturally after a surgeon removed her healthy fallopian tube by mistake.
Chelsie Thomas, 27, was admitted to Walsall Manor Hospital with the pregnancy in her right tube in March 2018, but during an operation, the surgeon instead removed the left fallopian tube.
Ms Thomas' ectopic pregnancy was discovered after she experienced bleeding and went to the hospital, where she had worked as a healthcare assistant for nine years and underwent the surgery, where her healthy fallopian tube was removed, on the same day.
Ms Thomas, who lives in Walsall, told the surgeon the scan showed the pregnancy in her right tube but said she was told: "I'm a doctor, you should trust me."
But a week later, when still in excruciating pain, she returned to hospital where the blunder was discovered.
She had to have her remaining fallopian tube removed and is now unable to have children without IVF treatment.
Ms Thomas, who has a six-year-old son Riley, said her relationship with her partner broke down as a result of the surgery. She also lost her job and is on anti-depressants.
She said the surgeon who operated on her "shouldn't be allowed to touch another woman again. I had to explain to my son that he cannot have a brother or sister."
Medical director at Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust, Dr Matthew Lewis, admitted surgeons made a mistake and said "our care fell below the standard that we would expect.”
He said the trust worked with "patients and their families, our own clinicians and staff to learn lessons and put systems in place to try and avoid such incidents."
An ectopic pregnancy is when a fertilised egg implants itself outside of the womb, usually in one of the fallopian tubes. If an egg gets stuck in them, it will not develop into a baby and the mother's health may be at risk if the pregnancy continues.
In the UK, about one in every 90 pregnancies - about 11,000 a year - is ectopic