'THAT'S NOT MY BABY'

Lying in the hospital bed, my husband Michael had tears of happiness in his eyes as he showed me a photo on his phone. 'Here she is,' he said proudly. 'This is our beautiful baby girl.'I stared at the photo and shook my head. 'No, that's not my baby,' I said. 'There must be a mistake.'It was August 2010 and I'd not long before had an emergency caesarean. I'd not had a chance to see Winnie when she arrived as she'd been whisked away for tests because she was nearly two months premature.

- CLARE SWATMAN, LUCY LAING

I'd told Michael to go with her and while he was gone, and after I'd been brought back to the recovery ward, a social worker had come to see me. 'I've been sent to speak to you about caring for a child with Down's syndrome,' she'd told me.

I was taken aback. Winnie didn't have Down's syndrome - it had been confirmed with tests after our 20-week scan. 'I'm sorry, you're mistaken,' I'd told her. But then, Michael had appeared, showing me a photo on his phone of a blonde, pale little girl who looked nothing like me or Michael - who was half-Bangladeshi - and nothing like our other children Harry, then 17, Jack, 13, and Woody, four.

'I'm not her Mummy,' I repeated, certain that photos had been taken of the wrong child. There must have been some terrible mix-up.

But when I saw Michael's encouraging smile, I realised that I was, in fact, mistaken. This little girl was mine. Instead of the shock I'd first felt when I'd seen the photo, something new washed over me - a feeling that I had to do everything in my power to protect her.

For years, Michael and I had longed for another baby to complete our family so when we'd found out I was expecting again in March 2010, we were elated.

However, a blood test in those first weeks of pregnancy indicated there was a chance our baby had Down's syndrome, so we were referred for an in-depth scan on 19 April 2010.

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This all came back negative for Down's syndrome, much to our relief. But, of course, it was short-lived. After Winnie was born, and Michael showed me her photo, I just stared for ages in disbelief. Of course, I thought she was beautiful and realised her appearance wasn't all that unexpected as I'd actually been blonde as a baby, but it took a while for me to digest everything.