The tragic triplets whose mother died just days after their birth have been allowed home from hospital in time for Christmas.

Jane England, 30, from Benfleet, died a week after giving birth to the two boys and a girl.

Her grieving husband, Martin, now faces a Christmas of mixed emotions as he welcomes the trio home and mourns the loss of his wife.

Martin, 35, said he was experiencing joy at tending to Matthew, Harry and Sophie, and intense grief at the loss of his wife of five years.

The couple had undergone IVF treatment to have the babies and had lovingly decorated their four-bedroom detached house in Kents Hill Road, ready for the new arrivals.

Mr England, a design engineer for Ford, said his wife had longed for children for many years.

He said: "It's so wrong. She wanted her babies so much and she would have been a brilliant mother.

"That's all she ever wanted to be. I can't help thinking why? Why am I sitting here a father with three children without a wife. It's such a waste I haven't found a word to describe how I feel. Waste is too small a word."

He told a national newspaper: "I can't look back and wish things differently. I have to hold on to the fact that Jane had her own moment.

"She had five, six days with the babies. She fed them and changed them and held them the whole time. You might say, is her life worth those six days? It's not the length of time. It's the happiness you get and she was so happy."

Pathology experts at the hospital are undertaking an investigation into the cause of Mrs England's death on December 7.

She suffered stomach pains following the Caesarean birth on November 30 and doctors decided to undertake exploratory surgery.

The young mum never came round from the operation. It has yet to be decided whether an inquest will be held.

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