A MOTHER who lost her newborn daughter to a bacterial infection at Northwick Park Hospital has welcomed an investigation into events.

Stanmore resident Janice Levine gave birth to Carla at 26 weeks at the Watford Road hospital's maternity unit but the tot survived for only 12 days before succumbing to septicaemia caused by e-coli on April 26.

Consultants from The North West London Hospitals NHS Trust who met Ms Levine on Monday (May 23) said the death was caused by natural causes before confirming an independent probe is always carried out as a matter of course.

Ms Levine was told babies can contract the e-coli bacteria in a number of ways - from the birth canal during delivery, although Ms Levine had a caesarean section, or through the infant's own intestines, or through contact with mothers and family – and that it will never been known which applied in this case.

But she said: "I find it a little bit contradictory. The likelihood of them picking it up from mothers is less than catching it from nurses.

"They go from baby to baby, and although babies get assigned a particular nurse within a 12-hour period, when the nurses go on their lunch break other nurses take charge of their babies.

"They come in and out, go over to the other side of the unit to pick up swabs, go from the intensive care unit to the special care unit to collect nappies or a form, for instance.

"When a mother comes in the morning, she scrubs up and sits for an hour, up to six, without moving until she leaves in the evening.

“I was the only family member to touch Carla as I wouldn't let anyone else hold her.”

Ms Levine, who had already lost two a son and a daughter in very early infancy before Carla, added: "I'm happy the investigation is now ongoing.

"I would like the investigation to examine her care procedure. There's lots of questions that have not been answered."