food in cheek

Question
We noticed our female hamster had starting storing food in her cheek about time she was to give birth.  We didn't think a lot about it since we thought she was stocking up for the big day.  After she had the pups (12/23/06) her cheek continuously stayed full.  I called the vet, and he said not to worry...so we didn't.  He even said not to worry about taking the male out of the cage right away since this was the pairs 3rd liter and he had not bothered them.  within 2 days all the babies were gone.  We assumed the father had destroyed them.  Still the female continued to keep the stored food in her cheek.  
I went in to check on the hamsters today and the female was dead.  Was this due to the food being trapped in her cheek?  The Hamsters were roughly 5-6 months old.  I have just never seen this.  

Answer
She could have died because of complications with the litter. She could have gotten extremely ill after the pregnancy and died. I don't think the stored food would have caused her to die, as long as the food in her cheek pouch wasn't stuck she should have been fine. I think the pregnancy might have killed her.