Amisha Adhia was on Sky News on Wednesday 18 February, launching a campaign to urge the NHS to do more to diagnose placenta accreta spectrum (PAS), a rare but potentially fatal complication of childbirth.

Sitting alongside her was our consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist, Chineze Otigbah, who Amisha and husband Nik credit with saving her and her baby’s lives

During an early scan in her second pregnancy, Chineze spotted that Amisha was at risk of PAS. Despite this, Amisha said five other London hospitals failed to spot the condition, where the placenta becomes attached to the womb and will not separate after birth.

If it is not identified before the woman goes into labour, she is at risk of having to undergo an emergency hysterectomy or bleeding to death from a severe haemorrhage. Women are at much greater risk of developing the condition if they have already had a caesarean section, or IVF treatment.

Thankfully, due to Chineze’s intervention, Amisha was treated by our specialist team at Queen’s Hospital. Her baby was delivered in September 2025 during a complex operation to move her placenta away from the uterus and repair the womb, avoiding the risk of her uterus rupturing and the need for a hysterectomy, which would mean Amisha couldn’t have any more children.

Chineze said:

She was a ticking time bomb – her uterus would have ruptured if she went into labour. People die of this condition if you don’t get to them fast enough.

Part of the problem is few people know about it, it’s really concerning. Luckily, it all turned out well in the end and they were so grateful our Trust was able to help. Now they’re really keen to spread the word about it.

Chineze, who has been with our Trust for 26 years, is hugely proud of our multidisciplinary teams who treat women with PAS. We have four specialist surgeons, including Chineze, in our Maternity department, and they work closely with colleagues in interventional radiology, urology, anaesthetists, blood transfusion and midwifery.

She added:

We’ve been doing these operations since 2004 and have revolutionised our service in recent years. They are long, complex operations and we have several multidisciplinary meetings beforehand.

Many colleagues give over and above and we’ve created a women-focused surgery and are listening to our patients. Amisha is an example of some of our most vulnerable women being ignored, we’re helping to change that.

Chineze is passionate about raising awareness of this condition following a traumatic experience during her early years as a doctor in Nigeria:

I watched a woman bleed to death. It was the most harrowing thing I have ever experienced. I ran from house to house, trying to find a doctor to help do a hysterectomy, but I couldn’t find anyone in time.

That was when I decided to come to the UK and train to be an obstetrician. I was really interested in ultrasound and when I learned obstetric ultrasound, I started to see things different in term of the placenta. I feel satisfied that I’ve made a difference to women, and that’s what matters.

Amisha and Chineze were also featured in the Guardian.

Amisha and Nik recently shared their experience with the inquiry, being led by Baroness Amos, into maternity care in England, urging that the NHS should do more to identify PAS. We are one of 12 trusts which are part of the investigation.

Our Maternity department was rated good by the Care Quality Commission in December 2025.

Both our Maternity and Interventional Radiology teams were highly commended in the HSJ Awards for their innovative treatment for women with PAS, using a balloon to help control blood flow during the operation.