I lost my pregnant daughter after docs make deadly mistake…hours later I watched her baby take last breath in her arms
She had been so excited when her daughter, Mellodie-Ocean, announced she was having a baby.
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But 33 weeks into the pregnancy, 19-year-old Mellodie collapsed on her way to a 4D scan, and later died.
Her baby daughter, Athena-Pearl, was delivered seven weeks early and survived on life-support for 16 hours before she too passed away in her mother's lifeless arms.
Speaking about the tragedy for the first time, devastated Justine, 52, says she cannot bear to move anything in Mellodie's room, which was ready to welcome their new arrival.
Mum-of-five Justine, from Atherton, Greater Manchester, says: 'Mellodie was my only daughter, and I am lost without her.
'We were so looking forward to the birth of her little girl. It still does not feel real that they are gone.
'My only comfort is that they are together. That image of Mellodie cradling her baby in her coffin will live with me forever.'
Nicknamed 'Boo' by her family because she wore her hair in little pigtails like the character from Monsters Inc, Justine says Mellodie was kind-hearted and loving.
'She loved singing and dancing and baking,' the mum recalls. 'She was sassy and had a great sense of humour.
'With four brothers she loved to boss everyone about and keep them all in line. We called her our Queen.
'She was like an extra arm for me, she was a great help with the little ones, and she took responsibility for all the technology like the apps for school and the ring doorbell.
We took our baby to A&E 10 times but he still died days after his first birthday
'She was especially close to her uncles, Steven and Conor.'
Mellodie met her boyfriend Daniel Darbyshire in high school.
For three years she admired him from afar, until finally, in June 2022, she wrote in her diary: 'Happy news! After three years, he finally asked me to be his.'
Justine says: 'Mellodie skipped home from school that day, she was so happy when Daniel asked her out and they were very much in love.'
Planning a family
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After leaving school Mellodie and Daniel both worked at a local Wetherspoons - and in August 2024, Mellodie discovered she was pregnant.
Justine says: 'Mellodie had problems with irregular periods, so we'd made an appointment with the doctor.
'Beforehand I told her to do a pregnancy test. I just had a feeling, a mother's intuition.
'Mellodie didn't for a minute think she was pregnant, and she was shocked.
'She and Daniel were only young, but they soon got used to the idea.
'They lived with me and began planning for the baby. Again, I had a feeling she was carrying a little girl, and I was right.
'They chose the name Athena-Pearl, we started buying baby girl clothes and we got all the equipment she needed. Our whole family was excited.'
The pregnancy went well until, in January 2025, Mellodie began feeling breathless.
Justine says: 'We told the midwife, who said she was low on iron and needed to have more snacks.
'Another time they said the extra weight would be affecting her breathing.
'But on the way home from the GP surgery we had to stop several times for her to get her breath, and it didn't seem right to me.'
Shock collapse
On January 31, at 33 weeks, Mellodie had booked a 4D scan - but on her way there, she collapsed.
Justine says: 'Daniel and I managed to catch her as she fell on the platform, and we got an ambulance.
'In the hospital they thought her breathlessness was due to panic, along with low iron levels.
'They got her to breathe in and out slowly and have a glass of water and discharged her with antibiotics and liquid iron supplements.
'She had been complaining of pain in her groin, but the checks on the baby were fine which was a relief.'
In the hospital they thought her breathlessness was due to panic, along with low iron levels. They got her to breathe in and out slowly and have a glass of water and discharged her with antibiotics and liquid iron supplements
Justine Ryan
The following evening, Daniel was planning a last night out with his friends before the baby came.
The family enjoyed a Chinese takeaway, and Justine went to bed around 10.30pm.
She says: 'I was woken after 11pm by Mellodie shouting that she'd fallen.
'I got her into the bathroom and I realised she was disorientated.
'I called an ambulance and tried to get her to breathe slowly, as the hospital had advised.
'But then she suddenly fell forwards into my arms. Her eyes rolled back, and I went into panic. I realised she wasn't breathing.
'I screamed for my son to ring the ambulance back, to come quickly.
'The paramedics arrived but it was 45 minutes before they moved her, and I was hysterical.
'I followed the ambulance to hospital, and met Daniel and Steven there.'
Life support
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Baby Athena was delivered within a few moments of their arrival and placed on life-support.
Tragically, at 1:52am on February 2, Mellodie was declared dead.
Justine says: 'She was only 19 years old, she was perfectly fit and healthy. I couldn't take it in.
'But Athena was on life support, and so I had to focus on her. That was what Mellodie would have wanted.
'We were allowed to see Mellodie and, when the tubes and wires were removed, I could give her a proper cuddle.'
Baby Athena clung to life but as the hours passed, doctors warned she wasn't going to make it.
Justine says: 'The nurses lifted her into a portable incubator, and we took her to the mortuary so she could be laid with her mummy.
'We took photos, handprints and had cuddles, and Athena's life-support was terminated there, in her mother's arms, at 6.24pm.
'Afterwards Daniel pushed Athena in her pram back to the neo-natal unit.
We took photos, handprints and had cuddles, and Athena's life-support was terminated there, in her mother's arms... Afterwards Daniel pushed Athena in her pram back to the neo-natal unit
Justine Ryan
'Steven bathed and dressed her, ready for our final goodbye.
'Mellodie had been really looking forward to doing all those firsts with her baby daughter. Now she would never get the chance.
'Leaving the hospital was surreal; I could never in my worst nightmares have imagined I would lose my daughter and granddaughter together.'
To add to Justine's heartbreak, in the days after Mellodie's death, NHS appointments kept arriving for her.
'Another scan, another blood test. It felt very cruel,' she recalls.
'I couldn't bear to move a thing from her bedroom, all the baby clothes are still there, waiting.
'It was horrendous for Daniel; he'd been about to start a new family, and it had been snatched away from him.
'Mellodie had been planning to book a football tour for Daniel for Valentine's and so we arranged it and Steven and her older brother, Devon, took him.'
Forever together
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Mellodie and Athena-Pearl were cremated together, and Justine chose Paloma Faith 's 'Only Love Can Hurt Like This' which was special to them.
Mum and daughter were carried in a white horse and carriage, in a white coffin, and Steven prepared a 10 page 'Celebration of Life' containing photos and memories.
The family have since learned Mellodie died from an undiagnosed pulmonary embolism in her left leg.
Justine says: 'Her left leg was not red or noticeably swollen or painful. But she was breathless and unwell.
'Nothing will bring Mellodie back, but we hope other pregnant mothers and health professionals will learn from our story.
'If Mellodie had been kept in hospital after that first collapse, perhaps she could have been saved.
'If Athena-Pearl had been delivered earlier, maybe she'd have made it. We will never know the answers.
'But I am speaking out so that other lives can be saved, in Mellodie's memory.
'My only comfort is that they are together, and Athena-Pearl is in her mother's arms, where she belongs.'
To donate to Justine's family to help cover funeral costs, visit their GoFundMe page.
Six signs of pulmonary embolism
A pulmonary embolism is a deadly condition that can kill in minutes.
Pulmonary embolism is where a blood vessel in the lungs gets blocked - typically caused by a blood clot from a deep vein thrombosis (DVT).
The clot stops the blood flow to the lungs, and in severe cases it can cause immediate cardiac arrest.
Around one in three people with undiagnosed PE don't survive, according to the Mayo Clinic.
However, quick treatment if you do recognise the signs, can greatly reduce the risk of death.
You should see a GP immediately if you, or someone you care for, has a combination of these symptoms.
A PE may cause...
Breathlessness - This can vary in degree from very mild to obvious shortness of breath. A massive PE or lots of clots will cause the breathlessness to be more severe.
Chest pain - Often people feel like they can't breathe deeply and have a sharp pain in their chest when breathing in. With a large PE the pain may be felt in the centre of the chest behind the breastbone. This happens because the blood clot may irritate the lining layer around the lung. Shallow breathing is more comfortable.
Coughing up blood - Some people can start coughing up blood, or pink foamy mucus if they have a PE.
Fever - When people develop a pulmonary embolism they may notice they have a slightly raised temperature. A massive PE may also make the sufferer feel faint, unwell or collapse.
A fast heart rate - PE may cause your heartbeat to become rapid or irregular due to reduced blood flow to one or both lungs.
Pain in the leg - There may be symptoms of a blood clot also called deep vein thrombosis (DVT), such as pain at the back of the calf in the leg, tenderness of the calf muscles or swelling of a leg or foot. The calf may also be warm and red.
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