AN investigation is under way after an unborn baby died during a 12-mile car dash between two North-East maternity units.

The tragedy happened only two days after Bishop Auckland General Hospital's service was controversially downgraded to a midwife-led maternity unit.

Olivia Harrison was due to be one of the first babies born in the new, low-tech suite at Bishop Auckland, County Durham, hailed before it opened two weeks ago as one of the safest places to have an uncomplicated birth and a model for other units in the region.

When tests showed Olivia was distressed and needed to be born quickly, her parents, Dean and Andrea, from Newton Aycliffe, were told to go to Darlington in the family car because no ambulance was available.

In south Durham, only the Darlington maternity unit is equipped to deal with complications during birth, with Bishop Auckland accepting straightforward cases only.

Olivia was dead by the time she was delivered by emergency Caesarean section in Darlington, weighing 6lb 8.5oz.

Her parents believe she died midway between the two hospitals. Mrs Harrison suddenly experienced severe pain as Mr Harrison battled through heavy school-run traffic.

Mrs Harrison, 30, said: "We set off (from Bishop Auckland) excited and full of hope because we didn't know there was anything wrong.

"Nobody gave us any indication that it was so serious, and they weren't expecting an emergency when we got to Darlington.

"Now I believe that Olivia had been in distress all day and I should never have been told to go to Bishop Auckland."

The Harrisons first contacted Bishop Auckland at about 8.30am. A community midwife visited the house and told them Olivia's heart rate was high.

The couple reached Bishop Auckland at 1.10pm, and after an hour on a monitor were told to go to Darlington, which they reached at about 4pm. The baby was dead on delivery at 4.26pm.

"I had checked when I learned about the new unit that there should be no problem," said Mrs Harrison.

"Even though I have an underactive thyroid, they were very reassuring.

"I wouldn't have gone there if I had known. There is no equipment there now. Everything has been transferred to Darlington. When we left Bishop she was alive. When we got to Darlington she was dead."

The couple's two sons, Alex, four, and Elliot, nine, were both born in Darlington.

Mr Harrison, 29, said: "We chose Bishop because we thought it was a new hospital with first-class facilities. When Tony Blair opened it he said it was the bees knees, but there is nothing there.

"We have known since December 23 that Andrea was having a girl and she has been called Olivia since then.

"It was our best Christmas present, a girl after two boys. We thought our family would be complete. Now we are shattered."

Bishop Auckland MP Derek Foster is asking for a full report on the case, together with another stillbirth involving a breach girl last week.

His investigations have confirmed that no ambulance was available for Mrs Harrison.

He said: "I think the general public, who had tremendous faith in the previous arrangements at Bishop Auckland, will want to be reassured that every action is being taken to ensure that this kind of thing doesn't happen."

Before the change, hospital bosses said the new, less high-tech approach was already proving a hit with mothers-to-be, with more than 50 per cent opting to have their babies in the new unit.

Two years ago, when the plans were announced, staff and patients signed a petition against the move and people packed public meetings.

Betty Todd, who chaired the now-defunct South Durham and Weardale Community Health Council, said last night: "We objected because we feared this sort of thing might happen.

"They should go back to providing emergency cover at Bishop Auckland. The risks are too great."

Hospital managers are conducting a review of the Harrisons' case over the next two days.

Laura Robson, director of nursing for the County Durham and Darlington Acute Hospitals Trust, said: "We are waiting for post-mortem results and will carry out a full review, as we do with all stillbirths.

"Our sympathies are with the family and we will keep them informed."