Woman, 27, suffers brain hypoxia while in labour, family wants answers

MONTREAL (CITYNEWS) – It was supposed to be one of the most beautiful moments of her life. But giving birth turned into a nightmare for Laurlyn Ley.

The 27-year-old Montrealer suffered two cardiac arrests while she was in labour with her daughter Charlie at St-Mary’s Hospital in May. After a full week in a medically induced coma, Ley emerged as a different person.

The new mother has brain hypoxia – a loss of oxygen in her brain – that’s causing a slew of symptoms such as a decline in motor skills and memory loss.

“When she woke up, she didn’t know who she was, where she was,” said Ley’s mother Melinda. “She couldn’t talk.

“The last four years of her life have been erased. And any life prior to that, you have to probe her to get it.”

Laurlyn Ley suffered two cardiac arrests while she was in labour with her daughter Charlie at St-Mary’s Hospital in May. (Credit: HO/Laurlyn Ley)

Ley’s mother says the young woman was administered two epidurals and a mystery drug during labour. She still doesn’t know what doctors gave her.

“I questioned the doctor again, ‘how did this happen to a young woman that’s so healthy?’ I don’t understand.”

Ley’s friends Tania Liberalon and Amanda Valvano have created an awareness and fundraising page to share her story.

“Is she ever going to be the person that she was before?” said Valvano. “And if not that person, will she be a better version of it? Because the person that we see today… We’re just very blessed she’s here alive with us, but there’s a big uphill battle to rehabilitate the entire traumatic experience she had in that operating room.”

Her family and friends are waiting for medical records they hope will determine what went wrong. They are hoping to receive them by the end of October.

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Patients’ rights advocate Paul Brunet says Ley is entitled to those records.

“Any citizen in Canada or Quebec has the right to access their dossier,” said Brunet. “There’s no reason to refuse it. Unless there is ignorance or bad faith, that’s even worse. But normally, even though we have to fight in a lot of instances to get the dossier, the content is the property of the patient.”

A spokesperson for the regional health authority overseeing St-Mary’s Hospital told CityNews they were unable comment on that specific case since it was confidential.

In a statement, they said: “We encourage our users and their families to share issues or situations that they deem unacceptable to the service quality and complaints commissioner. Appropriate follow-ups are then carried out in order to improve our practices.”

Meanwhile Ley is trying to stay positive while she takes care of five-month-old baby Charlie.

“I hope it gets better,” she said. “But I’m so grateful that I have my daughter and I can see my daughter.”