Family of woman who died after stillbirth accuses Soroka Hospital of negligence

The family of 42-year-old Nura Abu Adara, a mother of six who was in her 34th week of pregnancy and died in the intensive care unit following a cesarean section, claims that the incident occurred due to a series of failures at Soroka Hospital. This contradicts the hospital's statement that her death was caused by a rare medical complication.

The family's claims focus on the conduct of the emergency room staff. According to a family member, Abd al-Khaliq Abu Adara, medical personnel should have recognized the severity of the situation during the first hours after she arrived complaining of acute abdominal pain. It was only after she was transferred from the general emergency room to the maternity ward that doctors identified internal bleeding and a liver rupture. Despite emergency surgery, her condition deteriorated, and she passed away the following morning.

"Nura arrived at the emergency room around 23:30. She remained there for about four hours. Why wasn't she transferred straight to the maternity ward? It only happened at 03:30, and that is when further tests began. During those hours, she mostly received painkillers, and a blood test was taken, but after a long wait, they were told the sample was invalid and needed to be repeated," Abd explained in an interview.

The family also claims that during her stay in the emergency room, there were signs of her water breaking, but staff members disagreed on the nature of the fluid. Only later, after her transfer, did it become clear that it was indeed amniotic fluid. Following her transfer, she underwent monitoring, and suspicions of severe internal bleeding arose, leading to the decision to rush her to the operating room.

During the cesarean section, in which the fetus was found to be dead, surgeons discovered significant bleeding and a tear in the liver. Despite attempts to stop the bleeding and treatment to assist with blood clotting, her condition remained critical. She was taken for a second surgery in an attempt to control the hemorrhage, but the hospital announced her death the next morning.

Family members are now seeking answers regarding the conduct during the critical hours between her arrival and her transfer to the maternity ward, specifically questioning why the liver injury was not identified sooner and what happened to the initial blood samples.

Soroka Hospital reported: "We share in the family's profound grief. The case has been reported to the Ministry of Health and is under investigation."