NHS trust criticised over deaths of new mothers from herpes

A coroner has criticised an NHS trust over the deaths of two new mothers with herpes.

Kimberley Sampson, 29, and Samantha Mulcahy, 32, died in 2018 after having caesarean sections six weeks apart by the same surgeon at hospitals in Kent.

Their families have been waiting five years for answers on how they came to be infected with the virus, which can cause sores around the mouth or genitals.

Catherine Wood, Mid Kent and Medway coroner, said Sampson could have been given an anti-viral treatment sooner.

Wood added that in Mulcahy’s case “suspicion should have been raised” given the knowledge among staff from Sampson’s earlier death.

The coroner ruled out human culpability of any of the medical staff involved in the case and said it was “unlikely” for the surgeon to be the cause of the herpes infection found in both women.

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Source: The Guardian, 14 July 2023