A widower is hoping that an inquest will finally reveal why his wife bled to death after giving birth at a south London hospital.
Rosida Etwaree, whose twin daughters were delivered by Caesarean section, was one of three women to die in the care of maternity services at Croydon University Hospital in the space of two months in 2010.
Mrs Etwaree, 45, had been warned that one of the twins she was carrying would probably not live long because of a heart defect — but she was not believed to be in any danger.
Her husband Ahamud, 41, said: “Everyone asks me what happened. Two years on, and I still have to say I don’t know.”
The inquest will be held next month.
Mr Etwaree said he was “shocked” when he found out about the other two women who died.
“I couldn’t believe it,” he said. “It is important not to point the finger at anyone until we have the answers. I just want to know what was going on at the hospital.”
After the twins were delivered, his wife initially seemed to be fine but then started to bleed heavily.
Mr Etwaree, a forklift driver who lives near the hospital, said: “Four or five hours passed and I could see Rosida was getting worse not better.
“I had no authority over the doctors in charge. I thought they knew better than me, I couldn’t tell them what to do.
"She begged me for water, saying she was dying of thirst, but I told her I wasn’t allowed. I was frightened that if anything happened I would get blamed.”
By the evening Mrs Etwaree’s head was lolling from side to side and she was in distress.
Her husband said: “I knew I was losing her. I was watching my wife dying.”
Mrs Etwaree went into cardiac arrest and died in hospital.
An internal investigation found that her death was preventable but the full details will not emerge until the inquest.
In another tragedy, one of the twins, Nabilah, died days before the second anniversary of her mother’s death.
Mr Etwaree is now caring for the surviving twin, Nuha, and her siblings, Nadeem, 17, Nadia, 14, Nadir, 11, and Nadil, seven, on his own.
In a statement Croydon University Hospital’s medical director Tony Newman-Sanders said: “The Trust has apologised unreservedly to Rosida’s family for the errors that led to her unexpected death.
“We have put in place a number of actions since 2010 including the way major obstetric bleeding is handled in theatres and ensuring there is a major obstetric consultant dedicated to the labour ward.
"If the coroner requires additional actions after the inquest in November we will put them in place.”
