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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Alahna Kindred

'I had to store my dead baby's remains in my FRIDGE as hospital had no room'

A couple has recalled how they were forced to store their dead baby's remains in their fridge after the hospital didn't have any room.

Laura Brody and her partner Lawrence went to University Hospital Lewisham's A&E department after she had a late miscarriage at home.

They say they were told that nowhere was safe to store their son's remains and said they felt their only option was to take him home.

Lawrence told the BBC : "I took a Tupperware box containing my baby's remains home from the hospital in a taxi, cleared up some space in our fridge and put the box in there."

The couple says they knew something was very wrong when Laura started bleeding four months into her pregnancy.

Laura and Lawrence say they were told by hospital staff there was no where to store their dead son (Tulip Mazumdar/BBC News)

They rushed to the early pregnancy unit and were told their baby still had a heartbeat and that all was well.

Days later when they went for another scan the doctors confirmed their baby had died, and they were sent home and told to wait for a bed to become available for Laura to give birth to their dead baby.

In the next two days, Laura woke up in severe pain and she gave birth to the baby in her bathroom.

She says at first she didn't realise what had happened until she saw the remains of her baby boy in the toilet.

They say when they called 999 they were allegedly told it was not an emergency.

The couple have recalled how 'grotesque' it felt to have their baby's remains in the fridge (Tulip Mazumdar/BBC News)

They wrapped their baby's remains in a wet cloth and placed him in a box before going to A&E where they say it was total chaos.

Laura said: "I was there holding my baby in a Tupperware box, crying, with 20 or 30 other people in that waiting room."

She was then taken to a bay where she was told she would need surgery to remove the placenta.

The couple says that during this time their son remained in the box in A&E as staff told them there was nowhere to store him.

By midnight they decided they had no other option but to go home with their dead baby.

Lawrence said: "Our baby had been in a hot room for nearly five hours now. So we decided together that I would take him home."

He added: "It was a lonely, surreal moment clearing space in my fridge."

Laura added that the whole thing felt "grotesque".

A Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust spokesperson told the Mirror: "We are deeply sorry and offer our sincerest condolences to Ms Brody and her partner for the tragic loss of their baby and these traumatic experiences."

"A full investigation is underway to understand where failings in care may have occurred so that any necessary changes and improvements can be made."

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