TANYA Shelby endured every woman's worst nightmare when she lost her baby during pregnancy.
But the Ballarat mother went through a living hell when she found the remains of her stillborn boy dumped in a plastic belongings bag in her hospital room.
Now the family is considering legal action against Ballarat Base Hospital, which offered only $7500 and a plaque in acknowledgment of the blunder.
Ms Shelby, 35, a mother of three, was 18 weeks' pregnant when she began suffering back pains and spotting on December 17.
"I immediately called my midwife and she said I should get some bed rest or go to the emergency room should I get any worse," she said.
"I waited about three hours, but the pain in my back didn't subside and neither did the spotting. So I called my mother to take me to the hospital."
Her husband, Latique, waited at home with their other children, Jaidyn, 4, Talia, 2, and Hope, 1.
After waiting in the emergency room for three hours without seeing a doctor, Tanya was told to go home and come back in the morning for an ultrasound.
But at 2am she began to bleed heavily and her mother drove her back to the hospital. By then she was nauseous and weak.
"The nurse at the triage desk was trying to take my vitals and ask me questions but I couldn't believe I was supposed to sit there bleeding and answer questions," Tanya said.
"After what seemed like an eternity, I was taken into a bay and put on a bed, where the nurse was shocked by the amount of bleeding. I was checked and probed by a procession of doctors who could not stop the bleeding - until the medical registrar finally came."
The registrar was able to deliver the baby, which had died some days previously, but because he was unable to remove the placenta or stop the bleeding, he decided Tanya would need emergency surgery.
Before she went into theatre, Tanya asked to see her baby.
"He was so small. . . he appeared normal," she said.
The doctor told her testing could be done to see if a reason for his death could be found and he later reassured her both the baby and placenta would be tested.
The Shelbys named their son Tyrese Jordan Shelby.
Next morning, Tanya was well enough to have her intravenous drip removed so she could have a shower. It was then she made her terrible discovery.
"I opened up the blue hospital bag that contained my slippers - as Mum had taken all the bloody clothes home to be washed - and, unknown to me, also contained a red container with a white lid and a label with my name and address on it.
"I was not sure what it was but, since it had my name on it, decided to open it up and look inside. There was paper towel showing, which I opened up, and inside was my poor little dead baby.
"I was so shocked that I pulled my hand away and the paper towel closed up again.
"I was sitting there thinking, 'what in the world would my baby be doing here in my hospital room all this time?'
"It was quite strange, but I had felt his presence the entire time and with good reason, I guess.
"I looked again at my poor baby: he was so shrunken from the early hours of the morning before.
"I felt incredibly sad to see him lying there in that container. I sat there looking at him for a few minutes longer, then I closed the container and rang the bell."
After waiting for 10 minutes for a nurse to come, Tanya explained what had happened.
"She looked at me horrified and said, 'Are you OK - you're not, are you'?
"I said, 'Not really', and began to cry. She hugged me for a few minutes and said she would go and see how this had happened."
The Shelbys decided to let the hospital dispose of the remains because the family had only recently been through a funeral for a cousin who had died suddenly at 16.
After days of depression and periods of crying, Tanya decided to complain to the hospital. On January 29 she had a meeting with a doctor and another staff member to discuss the mistake.
"They blamed an orderly," Tanya said. "They thought I had only one child and had had a previous miscarriage, which wasn't true, so we don't know how good an investigation they ran."
The Shelbys have still not been told the outcome of tests on their baby's body.
Tanya says she doesn't want anything similar to happen to anyone else.
"I think the appropriate memorial would be to name an improved procedure after Tyrese," she said.
Opposition health spokeswoman Helen Shardey said: "This is not the first time something like this has happened in a Victorian public hospital.
"Women who are aborting are left in waiting rooms. There should be proper processes in place to deal with these situations in a sensitive manner."
Health Minister Daniel Andrews said: "I have asked for a full report. But I want to assure the people of Ballarat that Ballarat Health Service is a quality service, thanks to the hard-working professionalism of its staff and record funding from the Brumby Government."
In a statement, Ballarat Health Services, which manages the base hospital, said it would like to extend its condolences and sincerest regrets to the Shelby family.
"We are extremely saddened and deeply regret what occurred and feel greatly for Mr and Mrs Shelby. Since this event, there have been a number of changes made to ensure that families have the opportunity to consider their care options."
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