A DEVASTATED mum is set to share the story of the loss of her daughter with experts at a special conference in April.


Carly Scott  BAE Systems senior planner Carly Scott, 26, died of undiagnosed cardiomyopathy just days after giving birth to her son, George, at Barrow’s Furness General Hospital in April 2012.

Now her mum, Walney resident Angela Herdman, will address expert clinicians at the new event as part of her campaign to ensure midwives and consultant obstetricians are able to spot signs of the life threatening but treatable disease as quickly as possible.

The conference, which is being organised by specialists within Barrow’s hospital in conjunction with Cardiomyopathy UK, will be held at the Junction 36 Rural Auction Centre, near Kendal, on April 22.

Medics from across the UK are expected to attend.
Angela Herdman

Mrs Herdman, of Dominion Street, said: “This will be the first time the conference will have been held in this area. I am a little bit nervous about speaking. But I just want to tell Carly’s story and do her proud. Losing Carly was awful.

“Now I want to do whatever I can to make sure people know about this condition so that it doesn’t happen to anyone else.

“I know it’s what Carly would have done, if things had been the other way around.”

Though Mrs Scott reported symptoms of dizziness, fainting and cold feet – all associated with cardiomyopathy – her condition was not diagnosed.

Sue Smith, executive chief nurse at the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay Foundation Trust, said she was delighted the conference was to take place in south Cumbria.

“We are expecting expert speakers on the subject from all over UK, and attendees will include obstetricians, physicians, GPs, midwives and nurses of all grades across the North West.

“Angela’s story shows how a number of missed opportunities resulted in Carly not being diagnosed with the condition until it was too late. To ensure that we learnt all that we could from Carly’s tragic death and further improve services for women and families, we have been working with Angela – who is now also an ambassador for Cardiomyopathy UK – to raise awareness within our own Trust and more widely.”

<u>Learning to spot symptoms is key to treating condition</u>

AROUND one in every 500 people in the UK is thought to have some form of cardiomyopathy.

It is a condition that affects the heart muscle in both children and adults.

It is not curable, but can be treated, with those affected expected to live normal and full lives.

Some people experience no symptoms at all despite having cardiomyopathy while others may notice a range of indicators such as shortness of breath or fainting.

Though there are a number of forms of the condition, depending on which part of the heart is affected, it can appear during pregnancy when the workload of the mother’s heart is increased – requiring extra monitoring by experts.

The charity Cardiomyopathy UK exists to raise awareness of the condition among consultants, doctors, nurses and midwives as well as members of the public.

The organisation also organises conferences to help ensure hospital staff know the danger signs for the condition to enable it to be diagnosed quickly and to provide access to advice from the country’s cardiomyopathy specialists.