A mother has told how her twin babies died in her arms after being born four months prematurely.
Health chiefs have now launched a review into the care Angela Ilhan, 33, received from her doctor's surgery on the day her twins were born.
Mrs Ilham claims the practice failed to carry out a full examination and sent her home with antibiotics after she complained of bladder pain. Just hours later Yakup was born weighing just 1lb 6oz at 10.30pm, shortly followed by Leyla weighing 1lb 3oz.
Mrs Ilham and her husband Ibrahim were given a 50-50 chance of their babies surviving after their birth - Leyla was not breathing, and both she and Yakup were placed in intensive care.
Angela, who was rushed for emergency surgery for a trapped placenta, said she did not see the twins after she delivered them as they were rushed straight into incubators in intensive care.
The babies were later moved to separate hospitals, but their health soon deteriorated. Shortly after the move, Mrs Ilham was told her son was unlikely to live shortly. She rushed from her own hospital bed to see him:
'It was the longest trip of my life. On the way they called again to say he was not going to survive. They kept him alive until I arrived, they said there was no chance for him. We had to take him off life support, I held him for 10 minutes before he died. It was the only time I had with my son.'
Baby Leyla, who was thought to be stable, also deteriorated after she suffered a haemorrhage. Mrs Ilham told reporters:
'She was kicking and did not need much help breathing, we were hopeful she would pull through. At nine that night they said the next hour was critical, by 10pm they said there was no hope. It was so hard to make a decision to remove life support but we were told she had no chance. I wanted to know if she was in pain. They said no, but she would not survive. They took away her life support. I cradled her in my arms – even then you never give up hope that she might survive somehow, you don't want to give up.'
Angela and husband Ibrahim, 27, already have a one year old son Aydin, spoke of the pain left by the twins' death:
She said: "We were so excited when I was pregnant, and when we found out I was having twins we thought it was wonderful. Three children would have completed our family. We had plans for the rooms and had bought everything for them. We lost everything, it was devastating. My husband has been strong but is also devastated. We thought we would be having a baby brother and sister for Aydin."
The family want to know why she was not seen by a doctor when she attended Menai Doctors on the morning of November 7.
She said: "I was only seen by a nurse. She did not examine me, she did not even take my blood pressure. They knew I had twins. She took a urine sample and I was given antibiotics for a bladder infection. I don't believe it was an infection, it was the early signs of labour. If I had been checked properly they may have delayed the labour. I may have saved my babies, they could still be in my womb now.'
A spokesperson for the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Trust said: 'We are deeply sorry to hear of Angela Ilhan's loss. We wish to reassure her that we take her concerns very seriously, therefore we have now initiated a review in to her care and will be in touch with her directly.'
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