I DON'T KNOW WHY MY DAUGHTER DIED

17 years after losing her baby, Eleanor Moriarty Wroath, 50, still hasn't got answers

- WORDS: RACHEL TOMPKINS, LUCY LAING

As I lay on our double bed, another contraction surged and I groaned in agony. 'The baby is coming,' I cried to my husband, Jamie, then 33.

It was just before 4am on 23 September 2006, and I hadn't planned a home birth for my second child. But after being sent home from the hospital a few hours earlier as my labour wasn't advanced enough, it looked like the baby was coming a lot quicker than we first thought.

Jamie phoned an ambulance and paramedics arrived just in time to deliver our daughter, Miranda, at our home in Ealing, London. 'She's beautiful,' one said, handing her to me. Taking in her gorgeous big eyes and tiny fingers, of course I agreed.

Weighing 6lb 10oz, she was much smaller than her big brother, Sam, then two and a half, had been, but perfect.

Sam adored her too and didn't stop asking for cuddles in those first few days.

PRECIOUS TIMES

A wonderful baby, Miranda fed and slept well and as she got older she'd snuggle with Sam, watching Peppa Pig and listening to bedtime stories. By 15 months she was into everything - climbing into boxes, leaving a trail of toys wherever she went, and always asking for her favourite blueberries.

One day, Mum had come to stay and Miranda had us in hysterics when she found a pair of Mum's knickers and put them on her head, giggling. Whenever she had a drink, she'd bump her beaker against our cups. 'Cheers!' she'd grin. She was so cheeky, we would often talk about what she'd be like when she was older, imagining her future.

Then, in January 2008, she'd been a bit poorly with a cold. But I wasn't worried, knowing toddlers pick up bugs. Putting her to bed on 8 January, I read her and Sam a story and she drank milk from her bottle. 'Mummy loves you,' I said, leaning into her cot to kiss her as she snuggled her Jellycat comforter, which we called Lamby. She'd sucked it so much, the nose had worn away. Still, Miranda couldn't sleep without it.