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The Quebec coroner’s office is investigating the death of a 27-year-old woman who died following a difficult childbirth last week.

Éloïse Dupuis, a Jehovah’s Witness, died in a hospital in Lévis on Oct. 12, six days after giving birth to her son. The infant, named Liam, survived the ordeal.

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A spokesperson for the coroner’s office said she couldn’t confirm whether Dupuis had refused a blood transfusion after a complicated delivery.

“The coroner is just starting his investigation, so we can’t make any comments,” Chloe Bernier-Caron said.

Jehovah’s Witnesses often refuse blood transfusions for religious reasons, even when lives are in danger.

Cassandra Zélézen, a childhood friend of Dupuis, said Dupuis was to deliver her baby at a birthing centre, but was transferred to the hospital following complications. After a caesarean section, there were more complications and Dupuis had to have her uterus removed, she said. During the operation, Dupuis lost blood and required a blood transfusion, but didn’t have one, probably for religious reasons, said Zélézen, who had been in touch with her friend recently by text but hasn’t seen her for about a year.