Megan Gardiner, 25, lived with “one of the most volatile” types of epilepsy and was 17 weeks pregnant with her unborn son when she was found dead in her bedroom
A mum-to-be who was found dead in a bedroom from seizure had not been told the risks of her condition, an inquest has heard.
Megan Gardiner, 25, was 17 weeks pregnant when she and her unborn son were tragically found dead in her bedroom by her mum. An inquest heard how Megan had “one of the most volatile” types of epilepsy and was not properly advised about her medication during pregnancy.
Her distraught mum Alison Woolcock found Megan had fallen between her bed and the wall in Barry, South Wales. Her medical cause of death was later given as Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy – known as SUDEP – in June 2022.
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Epilepsy specialist Kim Morley said there had been a series of failures in Megan’s care before her death. Ms Morley, a registered midwife, nurse prescriber and advanced clinical practitioner, said: “With the knowledge of her seizure description and medical history, Megan had probably one of the most volatile types of epilepsy to present in pregnancy.”
She added that Megan’s seizures “had never been controlled by her epilepsy medicines.”“This scenario, for anybody, is probably the highest in terms of the risk of SUDEP,” she said.“Without being informed of this risk, without the knowledge, how could you counsel somebody accurately?”
“It is a really hard conversation, I absolutely acknowledge that, but in order that women are making an informed decision, they need to have all the potential knowledge of what that decision could do. For example, if a woman were to reduce or stop their medications, or even if they’ve been encouraged to continue those medicines, if they’re not given all the information they may make a decision based on information that they’ve read online, about the potential effects of their medicines in a baby.
“They may say to you that they’re going to continue them but they might walk out and stop them at that minute. As a practitioner you have this opportunity, this window, to actually individually counsel them about their potential risk and that’s what I felt was missing in terms of Megan’s care.”
Megan had been advised to decrease Zonisamide, without titrating – or swapping – in another medication, but Ms Morley said she would not have done. She said: “I do not know any neurologist that would have made that decision. I’d have been terrified this woman could die.”
An inquest is investigating what advice and care Megan was given during her pregnancy by medical professionals, and what medication she was on. Ms Woolcock described Megan – who suffered from epilepsy since she was 13 – as “beautiful” and having a “wonderfully sarcastic sense of humour”.
She said: “Megan was ambitious. An ultimate goal was to own her own business one day doing make-up. She became very skilled from watching plenty of makeup videos as well as RuPaul’s drag race. She had a wonderfully sarcastic sense of humour. If she made a joke or liked a joke she would laugh about it forever. You could become the brunt of her jokes very easily.
“She got on really well with me and we shared lots of the same interests – interests that she got me into. She really supported me as well, with charity days, and would just be there whenever I needed her.”
Ms Woolcock told the hearing that the risks of SUDEP were never directly brought up to her or Megan – and instead were discussed as a generalised risk. She said that although medics discussed terminating the pregnancy Megan never considered it.
The Pontypridd hearing was told Megan was also at risk from “sleep seizures” but Ms Woolcock said the family had not been made aware of this. She said that if they had been told Megan was at risk from sleeping alone then Ms Woolcock would have co-slept with her daughter.
Speaking ahead of the inquest Megan’s family raised concerns about her epilepsy care before and during pregnancy. The hearing was told medics were looking at new medications for Megan and she chose not to take sodium valproate despite doctors recommending it when other medications had not worked.
The inquest heard sodium valproate was dangerous for babies – but Megan may not have understood it would only have been a temporary treatment to halt seizures. The hearing, before coroner Kerrie Burge continues.
