Husband wins battle for wife's inquest

Peter and Laura Touche enjoying holidays together

A widower is planning legal action after winning his High Court battle for a full inquest into how his American wife died following the birth of twin boys at a private London hospital.

Laura Touche, 31, a direct descendent of US President Thomas Jefferson, died after suffering a brain haemorrhage a week after she had a Caesarean operation at the exclusive Portland Hospital in February last year.

If you can't give birth in this country safely then it's just ridiculous

Peter Touche

Dr Stephen Chan, coroner for inner north London, decided an inquest was not necessary because she had died from "natural causes."

But two senior judges ruled on Thursday Dr Chan had acted irrationally and ruled an inquest must be held.

Peter Touche, 31, whose sons Alexander and Charles survived the birth, said he wanted to change the regulations for private hospitals to ensure a similar tragedy did not happen again.

Experts "astonished"

Lord Justice Kennedy, sitting with Mr Justice Morison, heard Dr Chan himself had described the monitoring of Laura as "wholly inadequate."

They said Dr David Bogod, an experienced consultant anaesthetist, had also been astonished by the failure to monitor and record vital signs such as blood pressure, after the birth.

Peter Touche: Does not want anyone else to suffer like his family

Mr Touche, whose great grandfather started the chartered accountants which grew into global partnership Deloitte & Touche, has had to juggle his fight for justice with looking after his twin son.

He said he would never to use a private hospital again.

"I want an inquest because it is the proper forum for a full determination of what happened, what didn't happen that should have happened, and what caused her death," he said.

He said he planned to sue after the inquest and wanted to prevent the same thing happening to someone else.

The Portland Hospital is popular with celebrity mums-to-be

Mr Touche said: "You can't have potential parents thinking there is health care out there which is not appropriate and not reasonable.

"If you can't give birth in this country safely then it's just ridiculous."

"We were two potential parents getting very excited about having kids and looking forward to a wonderful life together.

"I am now on my own and have only my wife's inspiration to remember."

"Better regulation needed"

The Portland has seen the birth of 19,000 babies and cared for a host of celebrity mothers-to-be, including the Duchess of York, Spice Girls Victoria Beckham and Melanie Brown, and actress Patsy Kensit.

A spokesman for the hospital said staff who cared for Mrs Touche were deeply saddened by what happened.

"A tragic event such as this comes as a dreadful shock to all those medical and nursing staff who are dedicated to helping to bring joy to thousands of parents." she said.

Lawyer Ann Alexander, acting for Mr Touche, said the case highlighted the ongoing differences between healthcare in the private and public sector.

She welcomed the government's recent plans to introduce better regulation but said it could go much further towards including private as well as public healthcare.