By Charlotte Thompson
A YOUNG mother died in hospital days after giving birth to her first child.
Police have launched an investigation into the death of Lesley Cowie, 31, following the delivery of her daughter Grace by Caesarean section.
Mrs Cowie is thought to have suffered internal bleeding linked to a tumour during the procedure.
Women with the kind of liver tumour she suffered are usually advised not to become pregnant, but the condition shows few symptoms and is difficult for doctors to detect.
Mrs Cowie’s accountant husband Christopher, also 31, must now raise his baby girl alone.
His wife of three years – an oil industry recruitment worker from Aberdeen – died from an abdominal haemorrhage in the city’s Royal Infirmary.
A spokesman for NHS Grampian said: ‘We can confirm the death of a female patient earlier this month.
‘It has been reported to Grampian Police, who are currently investigating the incident.’ Mrs Cowie’s haemorrhage was linked to focal nodular hyperplasia (FNH) of the liver, a form of benign tumour usually found in young women.
Experts say FNH is the second most prevalent tumour of the organ.
Apart from not normally showing any symptoms, it rarely grows or bleeds and has no malignant potential.
However, in some cases it can ‘Inquiries are ongoing’
cause pain. It is normally only discovered when a patient has an ultrasound or CT scan of the abdomen for another matter.
While the cause of FNH is uncertain, some experts have speculated that it is caused by the abnormal development of small blood vessels in that segment of liver where the tumour is found.
However, others think that the affliction is caused by hormones and there is some evidence that FNH nodules can enlarge in women who are taking contraceptive drugs that contain hormones.
Women diagnosed with FNH are advised not to take contraceptive hormones or to become pregnant because of the theoretical risk of rupture.
Those who do become pregnant may have frequent ultra- sound examinations to see if the size or mass of the tumour has increased.
Mrs Cowie’s death certificate listed insulin-dependent diabetes as the secondary cause of her death.
The Cowies were married at King’s College Chapel in Aberdeen in 2004. Her parents, Ian and Brenda Duncan, and her in-laws, John and Alexandra Cowie, also live in the city.
Mrs Cowie leaves a sister, Louise and brother, James.
Her husband was too upset to comment yesterday.
A Grampian Police spokesman said: ‘We are investigating the death of a 31-year-old woman on Thursday, October 4, at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.
‘As with all sudden deaths, police were made aware of the circumstances by the hospital and the procurator fiscal.
‘Inquiries are currently ongoing and a report will be submitted to the procurator fiscal in due course.’ Three years ago, 15-year- old Aberdeen schoolgirl Haley Whitton died in her sleep after giving birth to a baby boy..
(c) 2007 Daily Mail; London (UK). Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.
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