THE FAMILY of a woman in her late 30s who died shortly after giving birth to a girl at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda were being comforted by family and friends last night.
The results of a postmortem are awaited.
The woman had attended the hospital for a routine appointment on Tuesday, but later in the day, after returning home to her husband and two sons in Ballybay, Co Monaghan, complained of feeling unwell, and went back to the hospital.
She died a few hours later. Her baby survived.
The Health Service Executive, which runs the hospital, said her family had asked for privacy to allow them mourn their loss.
“The HSE wishes to express its deepest sympathies to the family and is supporting them in every way possible at this time,” it said in a statement.
“In respecting their wishes, the HSE has agreed to make no further comment,” it added.
The woman is not being named by The Irish Timesin light of this statement.
Maternal death, which is defined as the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of the end of pregnancy, is rare in the developed world.
Most of the 600,000 maternal deaths that occur worldwide every year do so in developing countries.
However, there have been a number of cases documented in the Republic in recent years, including those of Tania McCabe (34), who died after giving birth to twins at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in March 2007. One of her twin boys also died.
The HSE admitted negligence in that case and damages were recently paid to her family.