Doctors said my baby had died, but didn’t until hours later — in my arms

A new mom was left distraught after doctors told her that her newborn daughter had died — only to bring her the baby girl alive 45 minutes afterward.

Tragically, the infant actually passed away several hours later, with the local hospital now publicly apologizing to traumatized Alisha Pegg for failing to provide adequate care.

“I had to grieve my daughter twice,” Pegg emotionally told the Sun, speaking about the death of her daughter, whom she had named Grace.

Pegg was 22 weeks pregnant on Feb. 27 when she was rushed to William Harvey Hospital in the town of Ashford, England, suffering from nausea and severe pain.

“I was doubled over in pain and being sick, and when I phoned the doctor they assumed I had a bladder infection,” Pegg recalled. “I went in anyway, as I couldn’t feel Grace move. When a midwife asked what the pain felt like, the first word out of my mouth was labor. Having given birth before, I knew what it felt like and my waters were leaking.”

Pegg was subsequently given a “quick” check by a doctor before being sent home.

“They did no dilation check, and no check to see if my waters were gone — the doctor did a bedside scan that lasted about a minute,” she stated. “I wasn’t happy and I was telling them my body felt like it needed to push, but I was told to go home.”

Pegg’s pain only intensified when she returned home and she went into actual labor in the early hours of the morning.

“Around 2:30 I realized something was seriously wrong. 2:40 a.m. I dialed 999 [a British emergency number] and at 2:45 a.m. I had given birth at home, alone,” she recalled.

Paramedics arrived and rushed Pegg and newborn baby Grace to William Harvey Hospital.

Once there, doctors separated the mom and daughter, taking the infant to a neonatal unit.

Around an hour later, medics told Pegg that Grace had passed away. But the mom was stunned when they brought her the baby girl alive just 45 minutes afterward.

Pegg got to hold her tiny daughter until Grace tragically passed away less than three hours later, with doctors saying “they could not offer any medical intervention” to the premature baby.

Dr. Rebecca Martin, chief medical officer at Britain’s National Health Service Foundation Trust, has since offered Pegg and her family a formal apology.

“We are truly sorry that we didn’t provide the standard of care and support needed,” Martin said in a statement.

‘We have changed our practices and policies following Grace’s sad death, including introducing further monitoring for those at risk of preterm labor,” she added. “We will continue to ensure we provide ongoing support to answer all the family’s questions.”