Expectant mother mistakenly told twin had died

An expectant mother in England spent nine days grieving after being mistakenly told one of her twins had died, it was reported today.

Lisa Cornish, 27, was told during her 20-week scan that only one heartbeat could be detected and that she would have to give birth to the dead baby, the Daily Mail website said.

However, just nine days later, a consultant at Birmingham Women’s Hospital realised their baby, named Paige, was in fact alive.

Miss Cornish, from Kingstanding, Birmingham, told the website: “Those nine days were hell. I’m overjoyed to learn that my baby’s safe though.”

Father-to-be Freddy Langston added: “We didn’t know what to do. We were even thinking about holding a ceremony because we wanted to do something to remember Paige.”

Earlier in the pregnancy, the parents were told that their girls, Paige and Paris, were suffering from twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS), a disease caused by abnormal connecting blood vessels in the placenta of identical twins.

Two operations were carried out successfully before the couple was told on June 1 that Paige had died.

A spokeswoman for Birmingham Women’s Hospital said their consultant was extremely experienced and had genuinely believed the baby had died.

She said: “We are extremely sorry Lisa and her family have suffered and hope the rest of her pregnancy progresses smoothly.”