‘She would have been the best mum ever’
Royal Stoke University Hospital
A dad has said his fiancée who died just three weeks after giving birth to their son “would have been the best mum ever”. An inquest also heard that Joanne Sellars was “so happy” when she found out she was pregnant.
A moving pen portrait by her fiancé Richard Potter, read out at the hearing at Swann House, Stoke, on Tuesday (March 31) revealed that the 32-year-old “loved her family so much, loved her dog Buddy, loved to go shopping and to make Sunday dinner (and) loved me”. He added: “All we wanted was to be a family, but that didn’t happen long because she passed away.
“Joanne would have been the best mum ever, but now our son has to grow up without a mum. Myself and her family will never see her beautiful smile again.”
Miss Sellars, of St Aidan’s Street, Tunstall, had a number of pre-existing health conditions including asthma, type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure before she found out she was pregnant. Her son was born on May 1 2024 by caesarean section and she remained in hospital until May 10.
During her stay in hospital she was noted to have developed tachycardia – a raised heart rate – but this had reduced to below 100 beats per minute on the date of her discharge. Following some time at a mother and baby unit, she decided to return home on May 13.
The following day she had a telephone appointment with a physician associate at Loomer Road Surgery. And on May 15 she attended a physician associate apprentice clinic with a dry cough, nasal congestion and reported shortness of breath and chest tightness, but no specific chest pain, coughing up of blood or leg swelling.
Physician associate Gursharan Mann told the inquest on Monday: “During the consultation she admitted feeling stressed and anxious and when talking about her son was very emotional. She seemed to be breathing a bit hard and hyperventilating – the episode was very short lived and it made me wonder if the shortness of breath may be more of an anxiety attack at the time.”
Examination revealed Miss Sellars’s temperature and heart rate were within normal range, but her blood pressure was “a bit elevated”. Her caesarean section wound had a “little bit of redness”, but appeared to be healing and intact, and she was advised to continue a course of antibiotics, as well as being asked to monitor her blood pressure at home.
She was seen by another physician associate – Kristian Flynn – on May 21, the inquest heard on Tuesday. She had an ongoing cough and was reported to be “feeling quite stressed, compounded by the recent event of having a child”, as well as having intermittent chest tightness and wheezing.
Mr Flynn told the inquest: “She seemed alert, didn’t seem short of breath and was speaking in sentences. It was noted she was somewhat emotional and tearful at times.”
An examination found her temperature and heart rate at normal levels, but a “significant rise” in her blood pressure. Mr Flynn added that she had not managed to monitor her blood pressure at home as requested during the May 15 appointment.
He said: “From previous records, she was able to do that before. It wasn’t clear she had a learning disability.
“Based on the colleague, me and my colleague thought the most likely thing was a viral upper respiratory tract infection and some anxiety. We had considered pulmonary embolism, but felt it wasn’t because she didn’t have chest pain or leg swelling.”
The inquest heard that since Miss Sellars’ death there have been changes to the type of patients seen at the surgery by physician associates, who are medically-trained healthcare professionals who support doctors in diagnosis and management of conditions. They no longer see pregnant women, mums who have given birth within the past three months, or people with learning disabilities.
Dr Jacky Aw, a senior partner and clinical safeguarding lead at Loomer Medical Partnership, said: “Now somebody of Joanne’s presentation wouldn’t be seen by a physician associate. We are a Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF) pilot – governance and safety is something we take seriously.”
On the morning of May 22 Miss Sellars collapsed while at the Civic Centre after going into cardiac arrest. She received chest compressions from a bystander and a defibrillator was accessed before paramedics arrived within minutes, joined by a pre-hospital doctor.
She was given advanced life support and her heart was restarted. But following her arrival at Royal Stoke University Hospital, shortly before 10am, she went into cardiac arrest a second time and was taken to intensive care.
Dr Nehalbhai Patel, a consultant in intensive care medicine and anaesthesia, told the inquest a CT pulmonary angiogram was carried out to look for any blood clots in Joanne’s lungs. But it did not show “any significant clot” or any stress or strain on the right side of the heart.
A CT scan carried out on May 23 showed evidence there had been a lack of blood supply to Joanne’s brain. She died later that day after suffering multiple organ failure.
The inquest continues.
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