Praveen Halappanavar tells Galway inquest of three requests for termination

Over almost two hours, with one break, Mr Halappanavar gave detailed account of his wife's deterioration, their repeated, refused requests for a termination and her death last October.

He recounted his courtship of Savita Yalagi’s – while he was in Ireland and she still in India, their Hindu wedding in India in 2008 and her growing love of Ireland which she “found so peaceful compared to the hustle and bustle of India”.

When they found out she was pregnant in July 2012 they were delighted. Savita was in excellent health.

On the morning of Sunday, October 21st, she told Praveen she had bad back pain and had been going to the bathroom a lot during the night. He rang the maternity unit at the hospital and was advised to bring her straight in. After an examination they were told she was fine and advised to go home. However, on their return she had to go to the bathroom again and was again alarmed and they returned to the hospital. On examination they were told she was miscarrying the 17-week foetus. The registrar said it would be over “in four to five hours”.

“Consultant Katherine Astbury came at 10.30am [Monday]. Dr Astbury sent Savita for an ultrasound scan. When they did the scan Savita saw the monitor and she started crying. Consultant Astbury came to us maybe an hour after the scan. Savita asked the consultant Katherine Astbury for a termination. I was present and a midwife and two other junior doctors. Dr Astbury said because the foetus is still alive we can’t terminate. Because Savita kept insisting Dr Astbury said she would check and come back. Savita asked the doctor for a termination two times.”

He had to leave the hospital on the morning of Tuesday, 23rd, to drop Savita's parents to Dublin airport and their friend, Mrudula Vaseali, stayed with her while he was gone. He was back by 10.30am. He said Dr Astbury returned to see Savita.

'Unfortunately, I cannot'
"Savita asked her 'Can you terminate the baby?' Dr Astbury said 'Unfortunately I cannot. This is a Catholic country. We are bound by the law. We cannot terminate because the foetus is still alive'." Savita started crying, he said. "She said she is a Hindu and why impose the law on a Hindu. She also said she is not an Irish citizen, Dr Astbury then said 'sorry' and walked away." He said there was a midwife and two junior doctors in the room at the time.

That Tuesday night, he said, Savita was shivering. He called a nurse who said it was a cold night and brought her a blanket. “The nurse checked Savita’s temperature and she said it was slightly high and that her blood pressure was fluctuating. I still didn’t feel Savita’s health was at risk.”

He fell asleep and later, about 4 am, heard Savita vomiting in the toilet. Nurses came. “Both nurses held Savita and brought her back to bed. They changed her clothes as she was all wet. I could see when they were bringing her back she was in a very bad way.” She was also complaining about difficulty breathing, he said.

A doctor came, she was given an injection, oxygen and bloods were taken. It was 6am.

At 10.30am the foetal heartbeat was checked and was still there. Savita was moved to a room close to the nurses' station. At about 2pm Dr Astbury came and brought a scanning machine at 3pm. He said he could not himself see the foetal heartbeat, though no one told him if it was still there or not.

Taken to theatre
Savita was taken to theatre. "After half an hour the consultant, Katherine Astbury, came out." She told him Savita had delivered the baby. Savita was then taken to the high dependency unit. He saw her and had a conversation with her about her parents' safe arrival in India. "That's the last word I had with Savita."

He was told she would be fine and to go home and get some rest. At about 11pm he got a call to say she had been moved to the intensive care unit and she had been put on a ventilator.

He was told on Thursday afternoon she was “critically stable”, had not improved but that she was young and would “get over it”. At 7pm he was told she had septicaemia and had been sedated. He stayed all night, went home for a few hours on Friday morning and on his return was advised by a nurse to tell her family she was in the ICU. An Indian nurse told him: “Savita’s life is on the wire”. On Friday night he went to the hospital chapel to pray. On Saturday morning the ICU team put Savita on dialysis . . . By 4pm on Saturday 27th many more members of the Indian community had come to be with him. At 11pm the nurse came looking for him.

“She used the word multiple organ failure . . . At around 1am on Sunday morning the 28th October, 2012, the nurse came running looking for me. On the way to ICU along the corridor she just said to me, ‘Are you ok to be with Savita during her last few minutes? We are losing Savita’. I said, ‘Yes’.

“When we went in there was a big team around Savita. They were pumping her heart. . . . then . . . she passed away.

“Afterwards somebody rang the guards.”

The HSE issued a statement last night reminding the media University Hospital Galway “has apologised to Mr Halappanavar and his family for the events related to his wife's care that contributed to her tragic, unexpected and untimely death.” and it was the first direct maternal death at the hospital in 17 years.