Inquest Reveals Two Women Who Died after Caesarean Births Were Not Tested for Herpes
A recent inquest in Maidstone has revealed that medical staff who treated two women that died with herpes after giving birth via Caesarean section were not tested for the virus. The women, Kimberley Sampson and Samantha Mulcahy, both died in East Kent Hospitals NHS Trust hospitals in 2018, seven weeks apart, after being operated on by the same obstetrician. Professor Richard Tedder, an external consultant contracted through Public Health England, told the inquest that taking nasal and oral samples could have been useful, but this was not done. He recommended screening as a precautionary measure to clear the team of any responsibility for causing the deaths. The surgeon involved in the procedures denies any wrongdoing.
