A heart-broken husband has vowed to sue Southend Hospital for the sake of his wife who died just a week after giving birth to triplets.

An inquest into the death of 30-year-old Jane England found she died of natural causes just days after giving birth to three beautiful babies, Harry, Sophie and Matthew.

However, her husband, Martin, of Kents Hill Road, Benfleet, claims his wife was severely neglected by hospital staff which eventually led to her untimely death. After the inquest he said he would take the hospital to court.

For more on this story - including Martin's own account of life without Jane - see the stories "I've got to know why Jane died" and "Heartbroken Dad to sue hospital in hunt for answers" in Newsround Mr England, his parents and Jane's family also believe part of her bowel was perforated by surgeons during a Caesarean section - a point hotly disputed by the hospital.

The inquest heard how Mrs England died in terrible agony after she complained of a lack of bowel movements and severe stomach pains for six days.

At one point, Mrs England was in such distress that hospital staff "could not even wheel her across the strips in the corridor without her screaming in pain."

A midwife later told the couple that Mrs England was suffering from "a bad case of wind".

By the sixth day, the new mum's stomach was so swollen, Mr England said "you would have thought she was having another baby."

Eventually Mrs England had exploratory surgery, after first being stabilised in intensive care, but died 24 hours later.

A post mortem found she died from septic shock as a result of faecal peritonitis caused by perforation of the caecum - a small part of the end of the small bowel and the beginning of the large bowel.

Diana Brahams, on behalf of Mr England, said: "Sadly, this injury occurred during the course of the Caesarean section.

"It was not a full thickness penetration but gradually it rotted through, making a hole."

But George Hugh-Jones, on behalf of Southend Hospital NHS Trust, disagreed and said: "Two witnesses have said that if there had been a perforation during Caesarean, there is no way Mrs England would have survived five days."

Ms Brahams also claimed there had been a gross lack of care in Mrs England's case.

But Mr Hugh-Jones said Mrs England was not neglected. He said: "This is a classic case of clinical judgements which have never come under the umbrella of neglect."

New evidence also revealed that the day before Mrs England had surgery, X-rays showed the presence of air in her abdomen which indicated "intestinal perforation". However, she was not operated on until some 24 hours later.

Earlier at the inquest, consultant Mr Ashley Brown said "the sooner a patient is introduced to surgery the better." He said: "She may have had a better chance if that had been the case but that is not to say her life could have been guaranteed."

Coroner Dr Peter Dean returned a verdict of death by natural causes.

He said: "Having listened very carefully and considered the evidence, I do believe the only proper conclusion for me to record on the facts is death from natural causes."

Pregnant - a happy Jane England

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