A grieving mother told how her daughter endured a horrific birth before contracting a herpes infection which claimed her life.

Relatives, reporters and lawyers were left in tears in the courtroom as Yvette Sampson spoke of her daughter Kim’s horrific ordeals leading up to her death at the QEQM in Margate.

Mum-of-two Kim Sampson, 29, from Whitstable, and Hawkinge mum Samantha Mulcahy died just six weeks apart in 2018 at two hospitals run by the East Kent Hospitals Trust, after they contracted infections caused by the herpes virus.

The county's coroner's service had originally decided not to hold inquests into the two deaths, but U-turned after it was suspected both C-sections may have been performed by the same surgeon, who could potentially have infected the women with herpes.

The full inquest was due to start at the end of February and last for at least five days, but the trust submitted a last-minute request to restrict reporting of the names of the surgeon who operated on both women – which was subsequently granted.

Speaking in court today, Mrs Sampson accused trust bosses of “lying” about the cause of her daughter’s infection and told how Kim endured a torrid labour at the QEQM – made worse by midwives who failed to listen to her pleas that something was not right while trying to push to give birth to baby Albie.

“She had given birth before to her daughter – and as that was a completely uncomplicated pregnancy and birth, she knew what felt right and what did not,” Mrs Sampson told the court.

“She always had a high pain threshold but I could see in her eyes just how bad things were. She begged them for a c-section, at one point I remember her saying something along the lines of ‘give me the knife, I will do it myself'.

“The midwives seemed to take no notice of her[…] There was poor care. The birth could have been less complicated if they had listened to Kim, and I do feel that this contributed to her death.”

After more than two hours of actively pushing, Kim was finally rushed in for an emergency caesarean, where it was ascertained her son Albie was in an unnatural position and would never have been able to be born through pushing.

After Albie was born, Kim had to have further surgery to repair a torn artery in her womb and required a transfer of around four pints of blood.

Following the operation, she was transferred to a ward with other mothers. Two days later, despite still being in considerable pain, she was discharged.

“A lot of the other mothers looked like they had also had c-sections, but they were able to walk around unaided – Kim could not get up or down or walk more than a few steps without support. She was in a lot of pain and her legs and abdomen were swollen” Mrs Sampson said.

“We had to use a wheelchair to get her to the car park. I looked her in the eyes and asked her if she was sure she was ready to be discharged when she was clearly in pain, and she said ‘everyone is telling me it’s normal, and I’d rather go home rather than experience this at hospital’."

Zoe Woodward, a consultant at the trust, said in hindsight, Kim was not ready to be discharged.

“I would expect someone ready to be discharged to be able to walk to the front door,” she told the coroner.

Kim’s condition deteriorated over the following days and she was eventually taken back to hospital by ambulance, where she was treated on the maternity ward for bacterial sepsis – a potentially fatal condition – with antibiotics.

But her condition continued to worsen, so she underwent a series of operations to identify and treat the infection. She was eventually placed into an induced coma to aid recovery.

Eight days after she was readmitted, a consultant microbiologist suggested trying the antiviral drug Aciclovir, which is used to treat herpes infections.

It was only after Kim was transferred to King's College Hospital in London that she was diagnosed with a catastrophic herpes infection. She was given just "hours or days" to live and died on May 22, 2018.

“I can’t stop thinking of the pain she went through from pushing, all the way through to being placed in the induced coma. I pray to god that it went away then,” Mrs Sampson said.

Six weeks later, nursery nurse Samantha would die of the same virus at the William Harvey in Ashford, which is also run by East Kent Hospitals.

She had gone into labour four days before her due date, and after 17 hours of contractions and some concerning blood test results was taken for a c-section, which was performed by the same doctor who had delivered Kim's baby.

“We are heartbroken and will never get over losing her...”

Samantha's daughter was born healthy, but the new mum was kept in for observation because doctors were concerned about signs of the blood pressure condition pre-eclampsia.

These were no longer visible three days later, but Samantha continued to deteriorate, with her stomach swelling and her temperature and blood pressure rising.

Like Kimberley, doctors thought Samantha was suffering from bacterial sepsis so she too was given antibiotics, which did not work. As her organs began to shut down, she was taken to intensive care, where she stayed for four days.

A doctor suggested she be treated with antiviral medication, but they were advised by the microbiology department to continue with antibiotics instead.

Doctors called for support from a hospital in London, and surgeons took her into the operating theatre to try to stabilise her, but she died on July 4.

The post-mortem investigation found Samantha had died from multiple-organ failure following a "disseminated herpes simplex type 1 infection".

Analysis of medical records revealed neither Kimberley or Samantha had previously had herpes, so would not have built up any natural protection against the virus. Women in the late stages of pregnancy also have less protection from their immune system.

Speaking to the court, Samantha’s mum Nicola Foster described the loss of her daughter as “cruel”.

“Samantha was a beautiful person, inside and out. She was always chatty and friendly as a girl and grew into a lovely woman. She accepted everyone for who they were, always saw the good in them and had a positive outlook on life,” she added.

“At 16, she met Ryan and knew he was the one, they became inseparable and married – then fell pregnant on their honeymoon.

“Just 10 months after such a happy event, she was cruelly taken from us. We are heartbroken and will never get over losing her.”

Kim’s death would eventually be included in a wide-ranging investigation into maternity failings at the trust, later dubbed the Kirkup report.

“I’m disgusted with the trust and how we have been treated, it is hard to comprehend how they think it’s acceptable...”

Mrs Sampson told the court that the two affected families became aware of the similarities in the two cases, but were not told of any overlap in treatment between the two.

“I knew these cases must be linked somehow, there was too much of a coincidence,” she said.

“I was told that they were looking into it and that I would be told if any link between the two was ever established.”

But it was only when she submitted an Freedom of Information Request – as encouraged by a BBC reporter – that the family discovered both women had been operated by the same surgeon.

“I feel completely let down by the trust as they promised they would be transparent, I had numerous representatives come round to my house saying they were doing everything [to find out what had happened].

“I fear if it weren’t for that FOI request, we may never have found out the truth.”

Mrs Sampson said that an email from the trust that was provided to Public Health England (PHE) even went as far as implying Kim had been the source of the herpes infection.

“The email made reference to Kim living with her parents and said that there were ‘lots of young children, plus mum apparently suffers from cold sores’.

“But she only had one child at that point [being pregnant with her second], and I have never suffered from cold sores, none of us have,” she told the court.

“I cannot understand how misinformation came to be given to PHE. It leaves me to believe this may have been done deliberately to mislead them.

“I’m disgusted with the trust and how we have been treated, it is hard to comprehend how they think it’s acceptable to behave in the way that they have.”