The obstetrician who assessed Caroline Lovell after she was rushed to hospital in cardiac arrest shortly after giving birth estimated she could have lost up to four litres of blood before her collapse.

Dr Adam Pendlebury was the obstetrician on call when Ms Lovell, 36, was taken by ambulance to Austin Hospital in Melbourne’s northeast in January 2012, hours after giving birth to her second daughter.

Ms Lovell fainted after getting out of her birthing pool and later stopped breathing after telling her husband and midwives to call an ambulance because “I’m dying”.

Her midwives Gaye Demanuele and Melody Bourne were charged with manslaughter over Ms Lovell’s subsequent death less than 24 hours later.