THE parents of an unborn baby girl who died during a car dash between two North-East maternity units said an autopsy report has strengthened their resolve to make sure other families do not suffer in the same way.

Health trust bosses said hospital blunders may have contributed to the death of Andrea and Dean Harrison's daughter, Olivia, during the 12-mile emergency run from Bishop Auckland, County Durham, to Darlington in May.

Two days earlier, Bishop Auckland General Hospital had been downgraded to a midwife-led maternity unit unable to deal with high-risk births or complications during labour.

Now, 12 weeks later, the post mortem examination findings have left the couple, from Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, incensed at what they said was the waste of their longed-for daughter's life.

The report, from Home Office pathologist Dr Fraser Charlton, said Olivia was a "normally formed female infant" who had died in the womb at term.

It revealed that she faced medical problems including infection, that her growth had slowed and her heart rate had been unusually fast in the hours before she died, a common sign of stress in the womb.

Olivia was already dead when she was delivered at Darlington by emergency caesarean section at 4.26pm, weighing 6lb 8.5oz.

The Harrisons, who have two sons Elliot, nine, and Alex, three, are angry at the wait for the written results of an investigation by the County Durham and Darlington Acute Hospitals NHS Trust.

They started legal proceedings against the trust after being told verbally that two failures during 30-year-old Mrs Harrison's care had contributed to Olivia's death.

She said: "Reading the autopsy report was horrible. I sat and wept at the thought that it is all I have left of our daughter.

"It makes me feel sick to think that she could have been here now. She should have been coming on holiday with us and we should not have been going through this torment.

"We are fighting because we do not want this to happen to anybody else. And we are fighting for Olivia because what was she for if we do not do anything about it."

A trust spokesman declined to comment in view of the legal action.

The trust is also investigating the case of a 14-year-old Shildon girl who was handed her miscarried foetus in a bottle by staff at Bishop Auckland General Hospital.

A report is expected shortly.