Tory frontbencher Claire Coutinho has revealed that she almost died earlier this year after giving birth to her son.
The 40-year-old MP was left in a coma and fighting for her life when a rare condition that affects just one in 20,000 pregnancies a year led to multiple organ failure.
The former energy secretary said yesterday that shortly after giving birth to her son, Rafael, her condition swiftly deteriorated – and she even warned Tory leader Kemi Badenoch to prepare for the worst.
Rafael was delivered by caesarean section at St Thomas’ Hospital in central London on January 17 – three weeks ahead of his due date – and did not breathe for 15 minutes.
While he ended up spending his first fortnight in the specialist baby unit – and is now a healthy ten months old – less than 48 hours after his birth the shadow energy spokesman’s condition deteriorated.
Doctors found she was suffering from acute fatty liver of pregnancy, a rare and life-threatening condition where excess fat builds up in the liver. She even made preparations for her death, looking into writing a will and considered an emergency marriage to her partner to make sure he had parental rights.
As doctors struggled to stabilise her condition she was put into a medically induced coma before undergoing emergency surgery.
She later woke up in intensive care, but was unable to hold her son for days because she had so many wires protruding from her arms.
Claire Coutinho MP, 40, revealed she almost died earlier this year after giving birth to her son
‘They would wheel in Rafa in the plastic unit and I could see him, which was wonderful, but I couldn’t really hold him much or interact with him,’ she told The Times.
Ms Coutinho said that she felt like she saw ‘the best and the worst of the NHS’ during her ordeal.
‘The best were these incredibly expert and caring doctors and nurses. I would be dead if it weren’t for them, and so would Rafa,’ she said. ‘And then the worst part is the same thing you face in Whitehall, frankly – the bureaucracy. It was incredibly hard for me to see my baby and, while that wasn’t any individual’s fault, it was because there is a system that is sometimes not geared up to be as humane and compassionate as it can be.’
Ms Coutinho also revealed she married Rafael’s father, Adam Hawksbee, in July.
However, despite her traumatic ordeal, the Tory MP for East Surrey feels it has made her realise what matters in life.
‘I was very lucky,’ she said. ‘I feel like I had the worst story of anyone I know in terms of giving birth. My biggest takeaway is that I would 100 per cent do it again. I would do it again in a heartbeat.’ She added: ‘Rafa is phenomenal. He’s got two teeth, very sticky hands. He’s doing all these marvellous things.
‘He can’t quite crawl, but he can drag himself across the floor.
‘He can clap, although I don’t think he really understands it, because sometimes he cries and he starts clapping as well.’
