A mum died giving birth to her second daughter after she was given ‘conflicting’ advice from the NHS about the risks of natural delivery, a coroner was told.

Environmental engineer Lucy Howell, 32, suffered a rupture of her uterus during delivery at Royal Hampshire County Hospital in Winchester after she tried to have a natural birth.

As a result, new baby Pippa was born in her mum’s stomach in March 2021. The newborn survived but despite doctors’ attempts to resuscitate her, Ms Howell passed away.

Four years earlier, she had a caesarean for the birth of her daughter Rosie, which required special surgery to repair.

Her family now believe she was not given good enough advice about the risks of naturally delivering her second daughter and they are demanding answers from the NHS.

It is hoped that a full inquest will establish whether Ms Howell would have survived if she had chosen an alternative mode of birth, such as a C-section.

Her partner Matthew, who is bringing up their two daughters alone, said: ‘The shock and pain of Lucy’s death has been unimaginable.

‘She was a devoted mother and a wonderful person who is sorely missed every day by so many people.

‘Lucy’s family and I have many questions about the circumstances surrounding Lucy’s death.’

Vanessa Cashman, the family’s lawyer, also told the pre-inquest review that the victim was given ‘conflicting advice – if it can be called that’.

The hearing follows a high-profile report released this week which found that at least 300 babies and 12 mums had died as a result of failings at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust.

According to the post-mortem, Ms Howell’s cause of death was a uterine rupture and amniotic fluid embolism.

Winchester Coroner’s Court heard that following the birth of Rosie, the mum had surgery to repair scarring, which her family believe may have made her vulnerable to having a natural delivery.

Area coroner Rosamund Rhodes-Kemp told the hearing she felt the statements supplied by Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust so far did not provide a full explanation of what happened.

She said this was a ‘rare’ situation and added: ‘The advice given is not huge to women who’ve had a caesarean.

‘There are issues regarding the management of the labour. The starting point is: should there have been a labour and who said what to whom?

‘The second issue is: was the labour managed appropriately given the risk?

‘I don’t think anyone could have done anything regarding resuscitation. But I’m keen to understand how we got to this point, whether it could have been avoided.

‘I think there are issues regarding the labour and whether this could all have been avoided had she not had a vaginal birth.’

Mrs Rhodes-Kemp said she now has questions about Mrs Howell’s antenatal care, her labour and whether Mrs Howell was given sufficient information to make an informed decision.

‘For the family, the trust have to show they have learnt from what happened’, she added.

‘But they can only learn from it if there has been an open and candid explanation of what happened. The statements I have seen do not reflect that at the moment.

‘The statements do not reflect learning and full understanding into exactly what’s happened.’

The full inquest will be held later this year.

Metro.co.uk has contacted Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust for comment.

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