'Depressed' new mum throws herself under a lorry two weeks after having twins

Heather Finkill, 30, left her home in the early hours of the morning to walk 400 yards to the M3 motorway wearing only her pyjamas.

She was last seen running across the busy carriageway before being hit by a heavy goods vehicle at around 7am.

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Last night, it emerged the new mother may have been suffering from post-natal depression following the premature birth of her daughters, Lacey May and Isobel Rose, by Caesarean section on December 19.

The twins - the couple's first children - weighed just 3lbs and 5oz and 5lb when they were born and were treated in a special baby unit.

Although Mrs Finkill had seen a doctor and midwife after giving birth, she had not been diagnosed with depression and was not on antidepressants, her family said.

Speaking from the couple's £200,000 terraced home in Pinewood Park, Farnborough, Hampshire, her husband Ryan, 38, a painter and decorator, said: "I am completely devastated. My mind is blank at the moment.

"I just don't know what to do. I am just inconsolable. I can't come to terms with it."

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In a statement released on behalf of the family, he added: "The loss of our beautiful Heather has devastated us.

"No words can describe how we are feeling. We are numb with pure grief. Heather was my soul mate and a devoted wife. She leaves behind her twin two-week-old baby girls.

"Heather was a kind and giving person who was loved so much by her family and many friends.

"How she came to die will be something we may never come to terms with. We all ask why, but that is a question we cannot answer. We wish to pass our thanks to everyone who tried to help Heather."

Mrs Finkill's father-in-law, William, said: "Ryan, as you can imagine, is absolutely devastated. It is a terrible time for him - he is distraught.

"We did not know she had post-natal depression. We did not even know the condition existed. It has been a terrible shock and it's an incredibly traumatic time for Ryan."

Mr Finkill last saw his wife at 5am on January 2 when he got up to feed the twins before shortly going back to bed. After waking to find she was not in the house, he immediately rang police.

Her body was discovered on the northbound carriageway of the M3 near junction 4a after a number of motorists called police to say they had hit a woman's body.

Mrs Finkill was found still wearing the pink pyjama trousers she had slept in, along with a blue hooded top, white Nike trainers and a diamond studded ring.

A heart-shaped pendant on a necklace was found close to her body.

Dozens of floral tributes have since been left on a bridge over the M3 close to where Mrs Finkill died.

Although police are not treating her death as suspicious, they are interviewing health care professionals about any treatment Mrs Finkill may have received.

Sergeant Paul Plews, of Farnborough Police, said: "This is an exceptionally traumatic and tragic incident which has torn apart a very loving family.

"A fatal accident which involves two such young children at what should be such a happy time in the family's life is utterly devastating.

"Heather and Ryan Finkill were both overjoyed to have their first children. There is nothing suspicious about Heather's death but one of the lines we have to follow is a medical inquiry.

"When someone dies 14 days after giving birth we have to ask whether there was post-natal depression.

"Our investigation would show that there were some signs but there was no indication that she was planning to take her own life.

"It seems the medical profession were doing everything they could."

Deborah Morgan-Graham, head of post-natal support charity Perinatal Illness UK, said that deaths relating to post-natal depression were "sadly far too common".

"Around one in five women who give birth suffers from some form of postnatal-depression," she added. "In its most extreme form it can lead to women committing suicide.

"Suicide is the most common form of death among new mothers - 40 women each year die as a result of it during the first year after they have given birth."