Student, 16, dies from a blood clot just days before Christmas after taking her first contraceptive pill

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A 16-year-old girl died from a blood clot in her brain just weeks after she started taking the birth control pill to ease menstrual pain.

‘Beautiful and intelligent’ Layla Khan, from Immingham, Lincolnshire, died last Wednesday after a scan revealed a blood clot in her brain.

Just weeks earlier, the schoolgirl began experiencing painful menstrual cycles and was advised by friends to take a birth control pill to ease her symptoms.

She started taking them on November 25, but on December 5 she developed a headache – and by the end of the week she started vomiting.

When her concerned family contacted the 111 NHS helpline, they were told there were ‘no red flags’ and to simply take her for a check-up the next morning.

But last Monday night, she started screaming in pain and collapsed in the bathroom at home. Her family then took her to Hull Royal Infirmary, where a CT scan identified a blood clot in the brain.

She underwent emergency surgery but died two days later, leaving her family heartbroken.

Layla Khan died of a blood clot less than three weeks after taking the birth control pill

Layla, pictured on the left, was the eldest of five children in her family and had just started college

The teenager had three young brothers and a sister, had only been at university for a few months and was already seen by her teachers as a potential Oxford student.

Dangers of taking birth control pills

The contraceptive pill, often referred to simply as ‘the pill’, contains artificial versions of the female hormones estrogen and progesterone, which are naturally produced in the ovaries.

Contraception tries to prevent a sperm from reaching an egg, usually by keeping them apart or stopping the release of an egg.

There are some risks associated with using the combined contraceptive pill, but these are minor.

Some of the dangers include:

– Raised blood pressure

– Temporary side effects such as headache, nausea, breast tenderness and mood swings

– Blood clots: The estrogen in the pill can make your blood clot more quickly, which can cause deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, stroke or heart attack.

– Cancer: The pill may slightly increase the risk of developing breast and cervical cancer. However, ten years after you stop taking the pill, this risk returns to normal. It also reduces the risk of developing uterine, ovarian or colon cancer

Source: NHS Contraception Guide

She made new friends three months after starting college and was in a new relationship when disaster struck.

Her family has been left devastated by her sudden and unexpected death.

Layla’s family have now spoken out to raise awareness about this rare complication of taking the birth control pill, which they believe is likely the cause of the fatal clot.

Her cousin Alicia Binns, 17, said Layla suffered from painful menstrual cycles and decided to take the pill after friends said it helped them.

After taking the pill on November 25, it seemed to help with “a problem she has had for so long.”

But just ten days later, she started experiencing migraines and vomiting.

Layla’s aunt, Jenna Braithwaite, told Yorkshire Live: ‘On Sunday evenings she was often ill. She was actually vomiting every 30 minutes, so they got a doctor’s appointment on Monday morning, they took her to the doctor.

‘Even though she was sick the whole time at the GP, they gave her anti-sickness tablets and told her they thought it was a stomach flu.

“They said there were no warning signs to go to the hospital, and to go to the hospital on Wednesday if it continued like this.”

On Monday, December 11, she screamed in pain. When the teenager collapsed in the bathroom, her mother and Mrs Braithwaite carried her to the car to take her to hospital.

She was taken from the family home in Immingham, North Lincolnshire, to the nearest hospital, about 10 miles away in Grimsby.

A scan revealed a blood clot and Layla was taken to Hull Royal Infirmary where she underwent emergency surgery. She was subsequently pronounced dead on Wednesday, December 13.

Ms Braithwaite said words cannot describe how devastated the family are, saying: ‘The fact that they said there were no red flags and that she was brain dead the day later is beyond comprehension.

Layla’s family is heartbroken and devastated after her sudden and unexpected death

Ms Braithwaite said words cannot describe how devastated the family are, saying: ‘The fact that they said there were no red flags and that she was brain dead the day later is beyond comprehension.

“My sister, she has newborn babies to take care of and there are other children, and she has all of that at the same time. It’s just such a shock. She has just started studying and has a job. It’s just a shock. The family is completely devastated.”

Miss Binns commented: ‘Her family had to say goodbye for the last time, knowing there was nothing more the doctors could do for her. “They made the selfless choice to donate Layla’s organs and save the lives of five other people before Christmas, which is the greatest gift they can give to anyone right now.”

She said doctors know of no other cause for the blood clot and told the family there was no infection.

Ms Binns said the family came forward because “the risks aren’t talked about enough.”

She paid tribute to her cousin online, saying Layla was “beautiful and intelligent, loved and cherished by so many people, and had her whole life ahead of her.”

She added that she had “a beauty that would light up a room and an intelligence that even her university interviewer gave her hope of getting into Oxford University.”

The NHS website states: ‘The risk of developing a blood clot is very small, but your doctor will check whether you have any risk factors before prescribing the pill.’