A mother whose little boy was in the neonatal unit during Lucy Letby’s murder spree said she felt “happy but guilty” that they took her son home when “other families didn’t.”
The 35-year-old, who asked not to be named, told the Mail she went through “traumatic” labor and her son was born breathing in September 2015.
He spent four days in intensive care and — although Letby was never his nurse — she was often seen in his nursery.
The mum, who works in retail, told the Mail she and her husband, 42, were questioned by police, who told her Letby assaulted other babies in the days before and after her son was admitted.
Letby was convicted five times of attempted murder of two different girls in September 2015.
Felicity Whitfield received an emergency baptism after suffering a sudden collapsed lung in the neonatal unit. She recovered after being transferred to another hospital
Between June 2015 and June 2016, Letby murdered five boys and two girls
“I still feel guilty about it – fortunately nothing happened to him, but also guilty,” said the mother.
Parents of twins relive the moment a nurse attempted to murder them
A couple whose twin sons survived Lucy Letby’s sadistic assassination attempts said they were “upset” by their failure as they called for a public inquiry into why hospital bosses turned their newborns over to her.
They recalled being over the moon when their first children had two healthy twins. Ironically, Letby had been present at her birth. His parents traveled from London to see the boys and were able to hold them.
Then came the nightmare of Baby M collapsing on April 9, 2016. “Everything was going well,” said the father. “Then within 15 minutes a nurse stormed upstairs and yelled, ‘You need to come down.’ ‘That morning I was giggling with my kids and they were fine in their cribs, then this happened.’
“Thank God nothing happened to our kid, but it could have.”
“We were lucky we were able to take our baby home with us.” A lot of other families didn’t.”
She said she recognized Letby immediately after her arrest, when her picture appeared in newspapers and on television.
“All we know from the police is that they shouldn’t have been in his room,” she added.
“Apparently Letby shouldn’t have been watching him, but she was in there.” That’s all we know. When I visited him, she was there.
“She said hello, but we didn’t really talk.” My husband remembers that she just smiled.
“It was really traumatic to read the court papers and know that both days[after he was born]she tried to kill babies.”
Chester’s mother said she was furious with hospital staff for allowing Letby to continue working unhindered after suspicions arose against her.
“I’m angry that people seemed to know about this and nothing was done,” she added.
“The hospital must have known something was going on — that something was wrong.” It went on for so long.
A corridor in the Countess of Chester Hospital’s neonatal unit where Letby worked
“The whole birthing experience was awful for me.” There was carelessness, they were understaffed.
“I waited seven days for induction – eleven and a half days postpartum.” I ended up having an emergency c-section and was put down so I didn’t see my baby born. It was very traumatic.
“My son was not breathing at birth and was sick. I was sick. I got an infection from the cesarean section. I didn’t get any medication, the cannulas were misdirected. It was terrible.
“Because of what happened, my husband and I have waited six years to have another baby.”
Another couple, whose preterm girl suffered a catastrophic collapse three days after she was born at the Countess in November 2013, have also asked police to investigate their daughter’s case.
Mike and Vicky Whitfield said there was “reason and reason” to return before June 2015. Police have confirmed they plan to investigate the full “footprint” of Letby’s career, which stretches back to her college days in 2011.
Their daughter Felicity was baptized as an emergency after suffering a sudden collapsed lung in the neonatal unit. After being transferred to another hospital, she recovered and is now a healthy nine-year-old.
Mr Whitfield, 43, from Chester, said: “We believe there is reason and rationale to look beyond 2015. They (the police) will go back.”
“We think it’s been like this since 2010. You don’t come up with something like this from scratch, it builds up.”
Felicity Whitfield was born prematurely in November 2013 and nearly died
Another mother, whose son was looked after by Letby for eight weeks after he was born to the Countess 10 weeks premature, also told the Mail that she “fell ill” when Letby was arrested.
“She was really nice to us,” said the 50-year-old. “When I heard the news, I felt sick. You think what if something had happened to him.’
Another mother of a premature baby whose airway became blocked while in Letby’s care in 2012 shortly after she qualified also said she and her husband felt they “got lucky”.
The 41-year-old told the Mail: “When I saw the pictures of the nurse in the newspapers, I recognized her as the woman who was taking care of my son.”
“She cared for him individually for most of the eight weeks we were in the hospital – and during that time he suffered a collapsed lung and then a blocked breathing tube.”
“Although our son was born very early, the doctors said from the start that he had good lungs.
“We couldn’t understand what was going on (when the baby got sick) and when we asked her (Letby) why the tube was blocked, she replied, ‘It just happens sometimes.’
“We feel like we had a fortunate escape.” In retrospect it seems a little surprising that such a newly qualified staff member could be entrusted with the one-on-one care of preterm babies, but we had no particular concerns at the time.
“Lucy Letby seemed a little reluctant, but the care she gave her didn’t set off any alarm bells. “We just thought she was a very career-oriented person.”