A ‘healthy’ teenage mother and her newborn baby died just hours apart – a day and a half after doctors allegedly sent her home from a hospital scan with medication and antibiotics.
Mellodie-Ocean Jarman, 19, from Atherton in Greater Manchester, complained about feeling faint and dizzy on her way to a routine pregnancy scan on Friday January 31.
At her scan, a doctor told Mellodie she was ‘low on iron’ after she complained of her symptoms and family members say she was sent home with medication and antibiotics.
But the following evening at around 11.20pm, Mellodie began to complain she was having difficulties breathing and struggling to see and an ambulance was called.
Shortly after the call was made, Mellodie fell unconscious and stopped breathing, collapsing into her mother’s arms.
Paramedics desperately tried to revive her by performing CPR and she was rushed to the Royal Bolton Hospital.
Doctors there carried out an emergency C-section and Mellodie gave birth to baby Athena-Pearl seven weeks early, at 12.32am on Sunday February 2. Tragically Mellodie died around 80 minutes after the operation.
She leaves behind her partner, Daniel Darbyshire, 18, and grieving mother Justine Ryan, 52.
Mellodie-Ocean Jarman smiling with pride with her positive pregnancy test. Tragically she died around an hour after medics performed an emergency C-section
Mellodie-Ocean Jarman, 19, with her partner Daniel Darbyshire, 18, who survives her
Mr Darbyshire with the couple’s baby Athena-Pearl, who passed away just before 6.30pm on February 02
Heartbroken uncle Steven Darby, 32, said: ‘We got a phone call at around four o’clock to say baby was deteriorating so we need to make our way back.
‘We made our way back up to the suite and we proceeded to speak to the priest and have a baptism.
‘Then it was planned for Athena to be placed on a portable machine so she can walk down and transfer to the mortuary, where she was placed in Mellodie’s arms and her life support was switched off.’
Heartbroken partner Daniel then pushed Athena-Pearl in a pushchair back up to the neonatal ward to spend some more time with her. She finally passed away at just before 6.30pm.
Steven added: ‘He doesn’t know what to do with himself, which is understandable in these situations – he’s lost everything.
‘Everything he’s planned, everything he’s wanted to do seems worse at the minute. We’re supporting him the best we can.’
Now, the family faces having to pay steep funeral costs.
Mellodie’s mum Justine said: ‘Mellodie was a sassy, upfront person who always said it how it is.
Mellodie-Ocean Jarman leaves behind her partner Daniel Darbyshire, 18, after both her and her baby passed within a few hours of one another
Mellodie-Ocean Jarman stops for a selfie as she shows off her baby bump next to her partner Daniel
Mellodie-Ocean Jarman, 19, from Atherton in Greater Manchester, complained about feeling faint and dizzy on her way to a routine pregnancy scan on Friday, January 31
The day after her scan, Mellodie began to complain she was having difficulties breathing and struggling to see. Pictured: Mellodie with her partner Daniel Darbyshire
Mellodie was rushed to the Royal Bolton Hospital as paramedics desperately tried to revive her by performing CPR. Pictured: Mellodie with her partner Daniel Darbyshire
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‘She knew what she wanted in life and always found the banter and funny side in things. She was a real character.’
Steven added: ‘At the moment, we don’t know anything until an investigation determines the full extent of what happened.
‘She was a healthy 19-year-old with no health complications, so we just can’t comprehend what has happened.
‘Now we are having to go to funeral directors and sort out funeral costs, which is quite a daunting experience in itself, so I wanted to setup a fundraiser so the family do not have to worry about any of these costs.
‘It was deeply traumatic [in hospital] but the doctors and neo-natal team were absolutely fantastic, and they all tried their absolute best to save the baby.
‘You could tell that it was traumatic for them too, but they did all they could to support us.’
Writing on GoFundMe, which has so far raised just under £6,000, Steven wrote: ‘Please, I ask you to help us lay our beloved girl and her precious baby daughter to rest.
‘On the heartbreaking Sunday, February 2, 2025, Mellodie was rushed to the hospital, where a brave team fought relentlessly to save our beautiful girl.
A screenshot of the GoFundMe set up by the family to raise money to cover Mellodie’s funeral costs
A pictured provided by Mellodie’s family of her as a child flipping through a catalogue at home
The young couple play with filters to show their love for one another in this cute snap
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‘In that critical moment, as life hung in the balance, her and her partner Daniel’s shining star, little Athena-Pearl, came into this world.
‘But with a shattering sadness that has left us reeling, Mellodie, at the tender age of 19, slipped away from us.
‘Our family is engulfed in devastation. We held onto hope with every ounce of our beings, praying for a miracle—that both Mellodie and Daniel’s daughter would thrive.
‘After what felt like an eternity of anguish, we were given the gut-wrenching gift of placing Mellodie’s daughter in her arms as the machines fell silent.
‘Together, they fell into an eternal sleep, bound by an unbreakable bond of love that transcends all.
‘The pain we are enduring is unfathomable. Daniel and Mellodie’s family find themselves unprepared, navigating this unimaginable loss while trying to comprehend what lies ahead.
‘So I say this with love and grace, we want to send Mellodie and baby Athena on their final journey without the weight of financial burdens—without the shadow of affordability looming over us.
Any support you could offer would mean the world to us, more than words can express.’
The Royal Bolton Hospital where Mellodie-Ocean Jarman and her baby Athena-Pearl both passed away
Death rates for mothers and newborn babies have increased for the first time in a decade amid growing concerns over patient safety, a report published in December 2024 revealed.
There has been an ‘alarming decline’ in the overall quality of NHS care, with the deterioration in maternity services particularly bad, the report found.
Researchers from the Institute of Global Health Innovation, at Imperial College London, say the gap between the UK and the best performing countries for deaths from treatable causes, such as sepsis and blood clots, has widened.
If the UK matched the top 10 per cent of OECD countries, this would save 13,495 people from dying each year.
The experts warned failings exposed in their 2024 National State of Patient Safety report must be addressed ‘urgently’.
Lord Darzi, co-director at the Institute of Global Health Innovation, who led a recent government-commissioned review into the NHS, said: ‘Our latest report on patient safety in England reveals alarming declines.
‘The deterioration in maternity care, in particular, requires immediate action.’
The report found rates of neonatal deaths – babies born at 20 weeks or after, but who die before they are 28-days-old – and maternal deaths – women who die while pregnant or up to six weeks after due to issues linked to pregnancy – increased for the first time in ten years and are continuing to rise.
Bolton Royal Hospital have been contacted for comment.
Anyone who wishes to donate to the fundraiser can do so here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/mellodieocean-jarman-athenapearl-darbyshire
