03-07-2025
Teen mum wakes to find 'completely healthy' newborn dead after just eight days
Arabella Mayer was born at the Royal Stoke University Hospital on June 12 - but her parents' joy was soon replaced with heartbreak after she died at just eight days old
In a tragic turn of events, a first-time teen mum woke to find her "completely healthy" baby daughter dead at just eight days old
Lydia Pass, who is just 18-years-old, discovered her newborn daughter Arabella Mayer had been "clinically dead" for over an hour, and made the heart-wrenching decision to switch of her life support, leaving the new mum "traumatised".
Lydia and the baby's dad, Ryan, from Abbey Hulton, were devastated. Arabella was born on June 12 at the Royal Stoke University Hospital, with the pair believing "everything was normal" for the week they spent together. But in a shocking turn of events, Lydia, aged 18, discovered her baby wasn't breathing just days later on June 20.
Arabella's aunt, Abbey Carter, 26, also from Abbey Hulton, told Stoke on Trent Live: "She'd had a completely normal pregnancy. All of her scans and everything hadn't indicated that there was anything wrong. She had a bit of a traumatic birth but they let her out of hospital and said everything was okay.
"But she woke up the week after at around 5am and her baby was just dead. She wasn't breathing and her skin had gone a light blue. My brother Tom was in the house and he gave Arabella CPR while they waited for the ambulance. When the paramedics arrived, they were able to detect a heartbeat. But they said she'd been clinically dead for around 50 minutes.
"She was rushed to the hospital where they put her onto a ventilator. They did everything they could. But when they did an MRI scan, it showed that because she'd been in cardiac arrest for so long her brain had been starved of oxygen and it'd left her completely brain damaged. So we were left with no choice but to turn the life support machines off."
Abbey said Arabella's sudden passing has left her parents - and the entire family - feeling "traumatised". She explained: "My little sister is only 18 so this has been very hard on her. It was especially tragic because she seemed completely healthy. I know it's never easy when a baby dies, but at least when you know they're poorly you can prepare yourself. That hasn't happened here. The shock of it has been traumatic.
"She's been beside herself ever since it happened. When Arabella passed away, she still stayed in the hospital overnight. She walked to the morgue. She couldn't face leaving her there. She was really looking forward to being a mum. When you walk into her house she's got the nursery done all nice and a pram by the door. She's heartbroken.
"You hear stories about things like this, but you never imagine it will happen to you. So when it does it just feels unbelievable. It was horrible. I got a call to say she was dead and then they told me they'd got a heartbeat. So we went from complete shock to having hope and then it was stolen away again. It's been a massive emotional rollercoaster for everyone."
Abbey has set up an online fundraiser with GoFundMe to give baby Arabella a 'beautiful' farewell, aiming to offer much-needed solace to her heartbroken mum Lydia.
Abbey explained: "I want to help give her baby the send-off she deserves. She'd like to get her a horse and carriage. She wants everything to be pink for her little girl. Arabella was baptised before she passed, but we were planning to do her a big christening. Now that can't happen - the only thing we'll be able to have for her now is a funeral."
