‘More could have been done’: Bunbury hospital insider’s shock claim about mum who died while giving birth

An insider has claimed more could have been done to save a mother who died while giving birth at Bunbury Regional Hospital six months ago. The West Australian revealed on Saturday how Melody Taripe died after her second son Cyrus was born in a planned caesarean at Bunbury Regional Hospital on July 20. Her husband Joneal is still waiting for answers as to why his “healthy” wife died. But a source at the hospital, said the 35-year-old died from heart complications. And they claimed more could have been done to help Ms Taripe. “When they tried to save the mother, they did everything the wrong way around,” the source said. The insider said a specialist team was not called until the mother was dead. On Sunday, a WA Country Health System spokeswoman denied the claims. “Specialists immediately tended to the patient,” she said. The spokeswoman said the cause of death was due to the patient having an “occult condition”. However, she declined to elaborate. WACHS has previously told The West that the “findings” into the investigation “indicate no human error was involved”. The public hospital is co-located with the private St John of God Hospital at the South West Health Campus in Bunbury. St John was recently embroiled in a horrific hospital bungle that killed a baby and left Sarah Hassan fighting for her life after a midwife gave her a massive overdose of morphine during the last hours of her pregnancy. Ms Hassan and her husband Sunny Alam lost their son Zyeen, who was stillborn after Ms Hassan was injected with 100mg of morphine — 10 times the amount prescribed — in December. WACHS reached out to Mr Taripe after being contacted by The West, to meet with the father and discuss what happened to his wife. The meeting has not yet taken place. A desolate Mr Taripe has been left to raise his sons Cedric, four, and Cyrus, six months, without his wife. “This is not supposed to happen to a healthy mum,” he said. “She had a complication-free pregnancy. My wife died in their care.”