Her name was Dorota
We are deeply saddened to hear about the death of a pregnant woman in Poland. Dorota L., who was 5 months pregnant, died in hospital in Nowy Targ on 24th May.
In the statement from Dorota’s family, they told us that Dorota went to hospital due to “premature drainage of the amniotic fluid, without other ailments”, and that she later died of sepsis and multiple organ failure. Loss of amniotic fluid – also called oligohydramnios – is a serious complication and can quickly lead to sepsis.
Her family reported her death to the police the next morning, and said there is a possibility a crime has been committed by staff who could have “endangered [Dorota’s] life and health”. Currently there is an investigation being held into what happened and what caused the sepsis. The director of the hospital in which Dorota was treated claimed that her pregnancy was “difficult”.
Dorota’s death is reminiscent of Iza’s, who died in Pszczyna in 2021 after also suffering from oligohydramnios. She developed sepsis and the ombudsman for patients in Poland stated that her rights were violated when the doctors took too long waiting for foetal death before treating Iza. When Iza died, organisations rallied around to say ‘not one more’ preventable death due to being denied an abortion: ani jednej wiecej. At the end of last year, Federa reported that at least six women have died in Poland after doctors refused to terminate their pregnancies due to the constitutional court’s ruling on abortions.
“… once again the doctors waited until the foetus died and did not help Dorota when she should have been helped. There was enough reason to terminate the pregnancy, she was already not pregnant. There is no miraculous healing of pregnancy without fluids, the foetus has no further chance of survival, but keeping it in the uterus is putting the life of a pregnant person at risk. You don’t need deep advanced medical knowledge here, just empathy. Sepsis develops very rapidly in such situations. This is how people in advanced pregnancy die when the fluid suddenly is lost. This situation is life threatening. You shouldn’t wait for anything here! And we want to say it directly: such tragedies are the result of a ban on abortion and foetus-centric view among medical staff. Doctors are not in danger for performing an abortion when the patient’s life or health is at risk. No doctor for the last 30 years, that is, since the beginning of the anti-abortion act, has ever gone to court for saving a patient’s life.”
If you’re in Poland and experience a similar situation, call Abortion Without Borders and Federa before you go to hospital.
- Abortion Without Borders: 22 29 22 597
- Federa: 501 694 202