A grieving father-of-three has spoken for the first time about losing his wife after she gave birth, on the day a Coroner ruled her death could have been avoided had an anaesthetist been consulted.
Janet Brown, 28, was admitted to Antrim Area Hospital in September 2006, following the start of labour during her third pregnancy and later died from morphine poisoning.
"I got the call and travelled to Antrim hospital to see that something was wrong. I waited and waited... The doctor came in and told me. I just didn't know how I was going to get by,'' Richard Brown told UTV.
"I've been robbed of my partner; my children have been robbed of their mother. My wee girl still cries at night looking for her."
"I'm very angry with what happened at the time, but the way the Trust has handled this since is an absolute disgrace."
Following a Caesarean section, Ms Brown was given morphine for pain relief, delivered through a patient-controlled device.
The coroner said that, eight hours after surgery, she was found lying in bed unresponsive and later died.
Belfast Coroner John Leckey said on Friday that midwives should have sought advice from the duty anaesthetist after the victim started snoring heavily because her airway was blocked.
"An anaesthetic referral may have culminated in a reassessment of her condition and a fatal outcome may have been avoided," he said.
Mr Leckey considered several reasons for the high level of morphine.
These included malfunction of the morphine device which had been used for pain relief, causing an overdose.
Another possibility was that the midwives who disposed of the residue of the morphine solution which remained in the syringe made an error in reading the amount left, or some manufacturing error made by the pharmaceutical firm which made up the solution.
After the inquest, family members called for a public inquiry to prevent more deaths.
"It's very important to get an answer. My wee girl is sitting at home today waiting for me to go home, sitting with an answer there for her and I don't know what I am going to tell her,'' Richard Brown explained.
"I'd like to see somebody held accountable and I would like to see the health minister come and met the family and tell us what actually has been done."
The couple had just built a new house for their expanding family.
One relative said: "She wanted to celebrate the new birth there, instead there was a wake."
Breeda Hughes, from the Royal College of Midwives, said the staff concerned had co-operated with all official investigations and the organisation would be studying the coroner's ruling closely.
© UTV News