Inquests to be held into deaths of new mothers who died from herpes

A coroner will investigate the deaths of two women from herpes following childbirth, amid fears they contracted the virus from their surgeon.

Kim Sampson, 29, and Samantha Mulcahy, 32, died weeks apart after their babies were delivered by caesarean section at different hospitals in Kent.

Their families have campaigned for answers as to whether they contracted the infection from their surgeon, after a BBC investigation found the women were treated by the same person.

Sampson’s mother, Yvette, said: “We’ve wanted this since Kim died in 2018 – it’s been a long time coming. We hope we are finally going to get answers to the questions we’ve always had – both for ourselves and for Kim’s children.”

Herpes infections are commonly found in the genitals and on the face, often with mild symptoms. Sampson’s baby boy, her second child, was delivered at Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother hospital in Margate in May 2018, but she died at the end of the month in hospital in London after becoming infected.

In July the same year, first-time mother Mulcahy died from an infection caused by the virus at William Harvey hospital in Ashford.

Sampson’s family requested documents from Public Health England which revealed emails from the trust, some NHS bodies, staff at PHE, and a private lab.

The messages showed that the same two clinicians – a midwife and the surgeon who carried out the C-sections – had been involved in both births.

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Source: The Guardian, 30 December 2021

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