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Wife dies from flesh-eating infection days after giving birth

The hospital is investigating where the infection came from, but the bacteria lives naturally in the skin and throat

Daily Mail

BANGOR, Maine — A new mother has died just a week after giving birth to her first daughter after she contracted a vicious flesh-eating bacteria from her episiotomy.

Heather Nichols, 29, passed away at Eastern Maine Medical Center on August 8 after giving birth to baby Ruby Ann with her husband Matt by her side on August 1. Now Matt, a childcare assistant, is left to bring up their newborn daughter alone, while he battles to raise awareness of the deadly bacteria that snatched his beloved wife away so suddenly.

To help with the 20-hour labor, Heather had undergone an episiotomy, a small incision that enlarges the vaginal opening. But on returning home, the pain she expected became more severe overnight.

Full story: New mother, 29, dies a week after giving birth to her first child when she contracts flesh-eating bacteria from her episiotomy