A ‘healthy’ first-time mum and her newborn baby have tragically died just hours apart. Mellodie-Ocean Jarman, 19, was feeling faint and dizzy as she travelled to her routine pregnancy scan on January 31.
At the scan, she was informed she was ‘low on iron’ after complaining of her symptoms. Members of Mellodie’s family claim she was sent home with medication and antibiotics, reports the Mirror.
However, the next day, at home in Greater Manchester, Mellodie began struggling to breath and see. The teenager was rushed to the Royal Bolton Hospital as paramedics desperately tried to revive her by performing CPR.
After her arrival at hospital, an emergency C-section was performed and Mellodie gave birth to baby Athena-Pearl seven weeks early, in the early hours of February 2.
Devastatingly, Mellodie died around an hour after the oprtation and the family were told baby Athena-Pearl wouldn’t make it.
Mellodie leaves behind her 18-year-old partner, Daniel Darbyshire, and grieving mother Justine Ryan, aged 52.
Heartbroken uncle Steven Darby, 32, said: “We got a phone call at around four o’clock to say baby was deteriorating so we need to make our way back. We made our way back up to the suite and we proceeded to speak to the priest and have a baptism.
“Then it was 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.”
Heartbroken partner Daniel then pushed Athena-Pearl in a pushchair back up to the neonatal ward to spend some more time with her. She died at just before 6.30pm.
Steven added: “He doesn’t know what to do with himself, which is understandable in these situations – he’s lost everything. Everything he’s planned, everything he’s wanted to do seems worse at the minute. We’re supporting him the best we can.”
Following the tragedy, the family face having to pay steep funeral costs with a GoFundMe page set up. Steven said on the page about the death of the mum and child: “After what felt like an eternity of anguish, we were given the gut-wrenching gift of placing Mellodie’s daughter in her arms as the machines fell silent.
“Together, they fell into an eternal sleep, bound by an unbreakable bond of love that transcends all. 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.”
Mellodie’s mum Justine said: “Mellodie was a sassy, upfront person who always said it how it is. She knew what she wanted in life and always found the banter and funny side in things. She was a real character.”
Steven added: “At the moment, we don’t know anything until an investigation determines the full extent of what happened. She was a healthy 19-year-old with no health complications, so we just can’t comprehend what has happened.
“Now we are having to go to funeral directors and sort out funeral costs, which is quite a daunting experience in itself, so I wanted to setup a fundraiser so the family do not have to worry about any of these costs.
“It was deeply traumatic [in hospital] but the doctors and neo-natal team were absolutely fantastic, and they all tried their absolute best to save the baby. You could tell that it was traumatic for them too, but they did all they could to support us.”