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The deaths of two women from the same infection after giving birth on the same day are "coincidental", a hospital has claimed.

Teachers Amy Kimmance, 39 - who had a baby girl - and Jasmine Pickett, 29, who had a boy, gave birth on December 21 at The Royal Hampshire County Hospital in Winchester.

Both were discharged but Mrs Kimmance died on December 23 while Mrs Pickett died a day later.

Mrs Kimmance is said to have developed fatal toxic shock syndrome as a result of a group A streptococcal infection while Mrs Pickett died from a sudden onset of severe pneumonia, also linked to this.

A spokeswoman for Winchester and Eastleigh Healthcare NHS Trust, which is investigating the cases, said that both deaths were "coincidental and unconnected to the hospital" despite being caused by "complications" caused by Strep A.

Strep A mostly causes throat infections and is carried at any one time by between 5 and 30 per cent of the population but can be fatal if it gets into the bloodstream.

The trust's medical director, Dr Kevin Stewart, said: "Our investigations so far show that the maternity unit is unlikely to have been the source of these infections and local women need not worry about coming to have their babies here."

The hospital's maternity unit has remained open although "extensive swabbing" of both staff and the unit has been carried out as a precaution.

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