The Inquests into the deaths of two mothers who died in December 2007 within 24 hours of each other at the Royal Hampshire County Hospital in Winchester will start on 18th May 2009 for five days.

Amy Kimmance, 39, gave birth to her third child, Tessa, at the hospital on 21st December 2007.  She was readmitted to the hospital the next morning in very severe pain.  During the course of that day her condition deteriorated and she was admitted to ITU.  She died the next afternoon, 23rd December, having suffered multiple organ failure and Group A streptococcus septicaemia.

Jasmine Pickett, 29, gave birth to her first child, Christopher, at the hospital only a matter of minutes before Amy on 21st December 2007.  Having been discharged home from the hospital in the late afternoon of 23rd December, her condition deteriorated on the following morning and she died shortly after her emergency readmission to the hospital via ambulance early on Christmas Eve.  By the time of her death Jasmine had developed sepsis due to Group A streptococcus pneumonia.

In advance of the Inquest John Kimmance said:  “I need to understand what happened to Amy, how it happened and why.  I need to understand it not only for myself, but also so that I will be able to fully answer the questions my children will inevitably ask when they get older.  I am hoping that the Inquest will provide me with the facts I need.  It is also my hope that any facts that emerge will help to ensure that this tragedy won’t happen to another family.”

David Pickett said: “I want to be sure that when Christopher is old enough and asks to know what happened that he knows that it was not his fault that his mother died.  I am trying to prepare myself for when he starts asking questions.  So I hope that from the Inquest there will be some account of the events leading up to Jasmine’s death.”

Claire Fazan of Leigh Day and Co, solicitor for both husbands, said:  “Thankfully, it remains the case that very few women in the UK die in or shortly after childbirth.  Any maternal death is deeply distressing for all concerned.  The death of two women within 24 hours of each other at the same hospital may be the most terrible and tragic coincidence, but inevitably we have to ask whether they might have been linked in some way and what happened?  The purpose of an Inquest is not to point the finger of blame, but is an inquiry into the cause of death. I anticipate that at the conclusion of the Inquest we will have a better understanding of what happened to these two young women.”

Claire Fazan at Leigh Day & Co acts for both widowers.  Please contact her on 020 7650 1200, or Sharon Steward in the press office at Leigh Day on 020 7650 1319 for more information.