Woman Dies After Botched Cesarean in Mae Hong Son Hospital
A 35-year-old woman died from uncontrolled postpartum hemorrhage after a surgeon accidentally damaged her bladder and uterus during a cesarean delivery at a Mae Hong Son regional hospital on July 10. Her widowed husband is seeking accountab
On August 3, 2026, a 34-year-old widower from Mae Hong Son traveled with his father to file a complaint with Paveena Hongsukul, founder of the Paveena Hongsukul Foundation for Children and Women, regarding his wife's death following childbirth. His wife, 35 years old and carrying their third child at 38 weeks gestation with a scheduled delivery date of July 17, 2026, began experiencing vaginal bleeding on July 9. She was admitted to a provincial hospital but was transferred to the regional hospital for cesarean delivery, which took place on July 10 between 4 and 7 p.m. The baby, a healthy boy weighing 3.5 kilograms, was delivered safely. However, the mother suffered severe postpartum hemorrhage, losing approximately two liters of blood.
The husband reported that the female surgeon told him the scalpel had accidentally damaged the bladder and torn the uterus during surgery, though she claimed the damage was minor and had been sewn closed. Despite blood transfusions given daily following the cesarean, the mother's condition continued to deteriorate. She required a breathing tube and remained hospitalized in the ICU. The family underwent four surgeries in total, including procedures at other hospitals to attempt to stop the bleeding using balloon insertion to plug the bleeding site, but the hemorrhaging could not be controlled. The wife died on July 19, 2026, with the death certificate citing "blood loss from postpartum hemorrhage" as the cause.
After the incident, the deputy director of the second provincial hospital acknowledged a surgical error but provided no clear support or compensation plan. The family sought assistance from Paveena Foundation, requesting that the hospital take responsibility and provide compensation to the family that had suffered this loss. The man noted that his wife had registered for prenatal care at the first provincial hospital using Thailand's gold card benefit starting around four to five months of pregnancy. The doctor had informed them that her first two children were delivered naturally, but the third child could not be delivered vaginally due to a low-lying uterus.
