A family in England is mourning the loss of not one life, but two. A 19-year-old first-time mom and her baby, who was born seven weeks premature, died within hours of each other, and no one knows why. The day before she died, the young mom-to-be complained of feeling ill. But the doctor sent her home.
Now, the family is seeking answers into what could have killed the first time mom. It’s especially concerning because she had been healthy before her sudden death.
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First-time mom Mellodie-Ocean Jarman, 19, complained to her family that she felt faint and dizzy. At the time, she was on her way to a doctor’s appointment on January 31. According to the young woman’s family, during her appointment, a doctor told her she was “low on iron.” The doctor sent her home with medication and antibiotics.
The next day, she was having difficulty breathing and trouble seeing. She was immediately rushed to Royal Bolton Hospital, and paramedics performed CPR after she lost consciousness.
When the first-time mom got to the hospital, staff performed an emergency C-section to save the baby. The baby girl was born seven weeks premature. Jarman died an hour after the surgery. Then, the hospital told her family that her daughter Athena-Pearl, wasn’t going to make it either.
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“She was a healthy 19-year-old with no health complications, so we just can’t comprehend what has happened,” Jarman’s uncle, Steven Darby said, several outlets reported.
Darby gave more insight into what the family endured on February 2, as they learned that Jarman and her daughter were dying.
“We got a phone call at around four o’clock to say the baby was deteriorating so we need to make our way back,” he said. “We made our way back up to the suite and we proceeded to speak to the priest and have a baptism.”
Members of the family including Darby, Jarman’s boyfriend Daniel Darbyshire, and her mother Justine Ryan made plans for her final moments. The family “planned for Athena to be placed on a portable machine so she can walk down and transfer to the mortuary, where she was placed in Mellodie’s arms and her life support was switched off.”
“At the moment, we don’t know anything until an investigation determines the full extent of what happened,” he added.
According to The Telegraph, Bolton NHS Foundation Trust will look into what happened to the mom and her baby. “As with any unexpected death we will be carrying out a full and thorough investigation and will keep the family informed as that progresses,” medical director Dr. Francis Andrews said.
Meanwhile, Jarman’s family faces the difficult task of planning funerals for both Mellodie-Ocean and Athena-Pearl. Darby launched a GoFundMe to help with the costs.
“The pain we are enduring is unfathomable. Daniel and Mellodie’s family find themselves unprepared, navigating this unimaginable loss while trying to comprehend what lies ahead,” Darby wrote. “Our family is engulfed in devastation.”
