Mom, 45, Dies After Drinking Too Much Water While Nurses Were Distracted by Their Mobile Phones

A mother of two died after she ingested too much water while at a mental health facility in England, where staff were found to be preoccupied with other matters and inattentive to her care.

According to BBC, the Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust admitted to numerous failures while treating 45-year-old Michelle Whitehead, including inadequate monitoring by staff who were distracted by their mobile phones, which contributed to her death.

Per the outlet, Michelle had an acute mental breakdown and was admitted to Millbrook Mental Health Unit in 2021.

While staff noted that she had been drinking too much water while at the hospital, workers failed to take action and continued allowing her unsupervised access to water, BBC reported.

At one point, staff administered tranquilizers to Michelle to help her calm down.

While staff believed she fell asleep soon after, she had become unconscious. She died two days later, on May 7, 2021.

A jury concluded that Michelle's death resulted from acute over-hydration, leading to severely low sodium levels, causing brain swelling and fatal injury.

Michelle had begun drinking excessively due to psychogenic polydipsia, a condition that causes compulsive water drinking and is common in psychiatric patients, which had gone undiagnosed.

Michelle's husband, Michael Whitehead, said that timely action could have saved her and that the staff should have noticed her worsening condition sooner.

"When Michelle [seemingly] fell asleep, staff should have realized something was very wrong," he said, per the outlet. "Had they acted earlier, Michelle would have been taken to ICU [intensive care unit] and put on a drip. That would have saved her life."

He added: "By the time they realized what was happening, the same course of action was far too late."

The NHS Trust admitted to staff failures, including policy non-compliance, incomplete observations, and inadequate monitoring.

The inquest jury highlighted that these failures "probably more than minimally" led to Michelle's death, BBC reported.

"We miss Michelle very much and will love her forever," Michael Whitehead said in a statement, as reported by Metro.

Water intoxication can lead to insufficient salt in the blood, causing a condition known as hyponatremia.

According to Scientific American, hyponatremia can lead to a "waterlogged" bloodstream, cell swelling, and brain edema.

Symptoms of hyponatremia include headache, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, frequent urination, and mental disorientation.