A mum has been left devastated after losing her baby being born brain damaged.

Natalia Southon, from Loughton, felt something was not right with her unborn daughter during her 33rd week of pregnancy.

After driving to see a nurse Harlow Hospital at 5am, she soon underwent an emergency caesarean at Harlow Hospital.

Valentina Bella James was born weighing 4lbs and 3oz on Tuesday, July 9.

Ms Southon said: “She was not moving around as much as usual, I know some babies are that like in some pregnancies, but I just knew something was not right.

“I drove to the hospital at 5am to get checked out.

“A nurse then came and told me that needed to deliver the baby immediately. She was born not breathing and no pulse.”

Doctors were unable to determine why the infant was born gravely ill so they transferred her to Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge who specialise in poorly babies.

There may have been a chance that Valentina may have got strangled by the umbilical cord but managed to free herself in the womb.

This may have resulted in the baby being starved from oxygen causing brain damage, however, Harlow Hospital staff had unexplainably lost Ms Southon’s placenta.

“We had a 3D scan of her just two weeks before this all happened,” explained the bereaved mother. “They did not tell us that they had lost the placenta, they still don’t know to this day what has happened to it.

“When a baby is born poorly the placenta would be sent off to checked over to figure why the baby is ill. They did not even apologise and now I will always wonder.”

Ms Southon’s added that despite suffering from severe sickness during her pregnancy, her daughter continued to develop healthily.

“Several times I had to go to hospital for anti-sickness medicine and rehydration but luckily the baby was fine.

“I had more scans than anyone and every time they checked she was fine.”

Faced with the possibility of having a 90-minute commute to the Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Ms Southon was given help from The Sick Children’s Trust.

The charity provided her and loved ones accommodation for free so they could be with Valentina whilst she received 24-hour care.

Valentina was also Natalia’s first baby, with family and friends her being beyond excited to meet her.

“She was so wanted, her room was all ready for her, she said. “Everyone has been amazing, we were being mobbed by everyone to come and see her during visiting hours.”

Sadly, the final MRI scan confirmed nothing more could be done and Valtentina’s ventilator was switched and died in her mothers’ arms on Monday, July 22.

“In the end she would have been kept alive by machines, we would only have kept her alive for selfish reasons and she would have no quality of life, so it was kinder to let her go.”

The day after losing her daughter, Ms Southon decided to set up a Go Fund Me page to raise money for The Sick Children’s Trust with an aim of £1,000.

Within 24 hours, donations had already exceeded the target which has almost reach £3,000 in over a week and now with a new goal of £5,000.

Describing how staff and volunteers at Addenbrooke’s Hospital and the help from the charity, she said: “They were brilliant they were so on the ball.

“Donations were coming from overseas, as soon as I shared the page on LinkedIn that’s when things really took off.

“We were planning to raise money for them even if Valentina pulled through.”

The family are planning to have a donation box at Valentina’s funeral on Monday, August 5.

To make a donation in memory of Valentina, visit

www.gofundme.com/in-memory-of-valentina-bella-james