Pregnant woman's eclampsia tragedy

Samantha Jane Hawkes, 31, who lived in Sutherland Avenue, had a history of pre-eclampsia in two previous pregnancies.

She was taken into the Conquest Hospital following a convulsion on September 14, 2008, and pronounced dead later that day.

She was 29 weeks' pregnant. The baby did not survive.

A post-mortem examination carried out at St Thomas's Hospital, London, concluded the death was caused by an eclamptic fit, Coroner Alan Craze heard at at Hastings Magistrates Court on Wednesday.

The inquest focused on whether Conquest staff could have done anything more to help Mrs Hawkes.

Community midwife Teresa Sahaill, who was in charge of Mrs Hawkes's antenatal care, said her medical history had been noted at the earliest stage, and precautions, such as increased contact between Mrs Hawkes and Teresa and the monitoring of blood pressure and protein levels in her urine, were taken.

Though symptoms such as facial puffiness and dizzyness were observed, medical tests on Mrs Hawkes revealed nothing remarkable, even after she was admitted to the Conquest on September 10 complaining of nausea and abdominal cramps.

The important signs of pre-eclampsia, such as the urinary protein count, were within normal levels.

Mr Craze questioned whether, at a subsequent ante-natal appointment on September 12, Mrs Hawkes should have been kept in for further testing.

Mr Dexter Pascall, consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist at the Conquest, said: "There were no symptoms presented requiring prescription. It's a condition which can take place at any point in time.

"We still do not know the elusive factor 'X' which causes women to get pre-eclampsia. It can occur without very many warning signs."

The appointment took place on a Friday afternoon, and questions of whether the proximity of the weekend had any relevance on the decision not to admit Mrs Hawkes at this stage were firmly answered by Mr Pascall.

Mr Craze said: "The issue in my mind has been whether anything else could have been done in the consultation on September 12. There is no suggestion that anything different could have been done.

"There are circumstances in which an inquest can come to a narrative verdict, where I can say such and such has been done or not done. This is not one of those cases."

Mr Craze went on to record a verdict of death from natural causes.

Pre-eclampsia affects around one in 14 pregnant women with varying levels of severity.

About one from every 100 cases of pre-eclampsia develops into eclampsia, the life-threatening seizure recognised as causing Mrs Hawkes's death.

Seven to 10 mothers in the UK die each year from the condition.