A GRIEVING mum believes her baby could have been saved if she had received better care at two hospitals.

Tia Kelly-Smith, 21, began experiencing problems with her pregnancy at 12 weeks when her waters broke and she was warned she might miscarry.

She was scanned regularly and given steroids to help the baby’s lungs and kidneys develop from 21 weeks and against the odds all seemed fine.

But at 24 weeks she felt she was going into labour.

Tia said: “I was getting really bad pains and thought I was about to have the baby.

“I was 1cm dilated by then and was taken by ambulance to Southend Hospital, but they said they’d have to transfer me to a hospital where specialist premature baby care could be given.”

On Christmas Eve last year, she was taken with a midwife by ambulance to Homerton Hospital, in London.

Despite still being in pain, Tia was discharged on Christmas night and returned to her home in Westcliff, but she began to experience pain again on Boxing night.

She said: “I ended up getting a taxi to Southend Hospital.

“I said I could feel the baby coming, but I was left in an assessment ward for an hour.

“Then he had a heartbeat, but I was left and waited for another 15 minutes on the labour ward.

“When a midwife checked me, the baby’s foot was visible.”

A medic informed her later, when they did a further scan, that her baby had died.

By the time Marley Hamilton was delivered at 11.27am he was lifeless.

“He weighed just 2lbs 1oz. He was not due to be born until March 31,” she said.

Tia, who lives with her partner and Marley’s dad Sean, 26, in Osborne Road, Westcliff, came to the Echo after reading about baby Charlotte Jones, who died at Southend Hospital in June 2009.

She said: “The care I got at both hospitals was appalling.

“I’ve coped pretty badly since it happened. We buried Marley on February 11.

“I believe the hospital should have kept me in when my waters broke at 12 weeks and when I went into labour I should have been given an emergency Caesarean section.

Then he might have been all right.”

Tia has now lodged a complaint with Southend Hospital.

A post mortem recorded the cause of death as natural causes and no inquest has been held. Sue Hardy, chief nurse and deputy chief executive for Southend Hospital, said: “We are very sorry to hear of Ms Kelly-Smith’s sad experience.

“We would invite her to contact our patient experience leader so that we can investigate all of her concerns fully.”

A spokesman for Homerton Hospital said: “If Ms Kelly Smith has any concerns about the care she received whilst in our hospital, we would welcome the opportunity to discuss these with her, fully investigate her concerns, and then report to her the findings of our investigation.

£She can write to our chief executive or contact our PALS office on 020 8510 7315.”