The mother wrote the father the “first and last” card from the child they lost

A couple are demanding answers after their daughter died during a ‘traumatic birth’.

Billy, 39, and Louise Williams, 38, from Netherton, married three years ago and were overjoyed when they discovered Louise was pregnant last December. But last week their ‘world came crashing down’ after their baby daughter died during – what Louise described as – a ‘traumatic birth’.

Louise, who has three children aged 19, 13 and nine, sadly lost her first child, Ruby, after doctors at Liverpool Women’s Hospital failed to notice she had a hole in her bowel. She says she was left “traumatized” after losing her last child, who was born no bigger than her husband’s hand.

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Louise claims she was in and out of hospital for three weeks and bled for six weeks before giving birth. She received regular check-ups from the hospital, who kept her in the ward for two weeks to monitor the baby while he was asleep.

While in hospital, Louise’s water broke at just 23 weeks, but once her bleeding “steadied”, she claims she was sent home on Thursday, June 6.

A hospital spokesman told the ECHO that a bridge birth can sometimes be complex and is associated with a risk of complications.

Two days after being discharged, Louise passed through a “large piece of tissue with a lot of blood”, which the couple now believe was part of Louise’s placenta. The mother-to-be was told to return to the hospital immediately.

Urine and blood samples were taken and Louise was told she would have to stay overnight so both she and the baby could be monitored. Louise said: “I suffer from PTSD and ADHD and I had a panic attack because I stayed up all night on the ward. I had a panic attack and then I was sent home.”

The following Monday (June 10) the mother of three had an appointment to check on the child’s progress. Louise and Billy say they were extremely worried but, despite their worries, claim they have been told ‘everything is fine’ and doctors have been ‘amazed’ at how well he is doing. The couple were sent home and Louise was told to “take a bath and relax”.

Three days later, at around 1am on Thursday, June 13, Louise woke her husband in excruciating pain. Billy immediately called an ambulance, to which he says he carried his wife in his bare feet.

The parents were taken to a triage room at Liverpool Women’s Hospital, where a nurse came to do a scan on the baby to check everything was OK – only to be told there was no heartbeat . Billy says: “I was hysterical and crying and Louise was screaming for a second opinion. We were asked to sign forms for an emergency C-section, which we signed.”

When Louise was waiting to go into surgery, Billy claims that the umbilical cord started to come out. The doctor pushed her back and did a scan and said she was 9cm dilated. Another doctor then entered the room and told her to start pushing. The baby’s legs and body began to be delivered, but then the couple claim the doctor received an emergency call on the radio and had to leave.

Billy said: “I had to witness it all. Three hours later the doctors came back and said they had to take the baby out because the head was stuck inside.”

Louise continued: “I had Billy on one side and a nurse on the other telling me to push and I remember screaming saying ‘I can’t, I can’t do this’.

Finally, Louise was taken to the theatre, while Billy wandered around the waiting room. He said: “Louise was in theater for two hours, you just think the worst in those situations, I was panicking thinking something had happened to her. (When the operation was over) they said they would take the baby out.. I was pacing up and down the room.

“They went with the child and told me to sit down, we have something to tell you. When I sat down, they told me that my daughter was beheaded during birth. I cried hysterically and yelled at them to leave. and take my wife

“When Louise came I had to open my eyes and tell her our daughter had been decapitated. He was hysterical. I pulled down the blanket they gave me and saw the stitches they had sewn his head back into. The child has come. it went out feet first at 12.22 and the head was delivered at 15.44.”

The family says they feel they have been left in the dark about what happened to their daughter.

Louise added: “It was all a blur, the next thing I knew we were in the car outside waiting to get home. We got into the car with the baby (in a cold crib) and drove home. I put it in her. Moses sat up next to our bed and tried to make us understand what had just happened.”

She said: “I had to drive home from the hospital after going through all this because I was too scared to hold the baby after the birth.”

As of Monday (June 17) morning, Billy and Louise say they stayed at home with their daughter. Billy said: “Sunday was Father’s Day and I stayed in bed with my daughter most of the day. Louise wrote me the first and last Father’s Day card from her.”

The family contacted Alder Hey Children’s Hospital who arranged for them to bring their baby, who they named Billy-Jo, to the hospital and arranged for a post-mortem examination to be carried out.

Billy said: “My head is in a mess at the moment. We were supposed to go register his birth on Tuesday at 11am. I cried so much it just didn’t sink in. We cried all we had, we’re just numb to it. I called her Billy-Jo, her name was bigger than her.

“We are just devastated, Louise is traumatised. I woke up on Saturday morning thinking I heard her (Billy-Jo) crying when she was in the cot, I saw her face moving, I kept saying ‘look she’s moving’.”

He added: “None of this should have happened. Louise’s first child died at Liverpool Women’s Hospital and I promised her that this time it would be all right.’

Lynn Greenhalgh, Chief Medical Officer, said: “This has been an extremely traumatic experience and our deepest condolences go out to the couple involved. We have reached out to the family to offer continued support at this difficult time.

“While the horrific experience this family went through is a very rare event, when a baby is stillborn, a breech birth can be complex and is associated with a risk of complications.”

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