Talking with Manchester Evening News, Hazel explained: “The midwife looked at my scan for 30 seconds and then said ‘I’m sorry, there is no heartbeat’ and turned the machine off.
“I said ‘Are you sure? You didn’t look at my stomach for very long,’ and she said, ‘Yes, I’m 100% sure’.
“I went home and just got into bed and mourned the death of the baby. I cried the whole day and night.”
Just a few days later, Hazel returned to hospital to begin a series of abortion pills - but her maternal instinct refused to let her believe that her baby was truly dead.
“They kept saying that I needed to take the tablets and I said that I didn’t want to. I told them I wanted another scan. It went on for about 20 minutes.”
Finally, nurses allowed Hazel to undergo a second scan - and she discovered something incredible:
“I was telling the lady who was scanning me about what had happened when she stopped and looked at me, shocked,” said Hazel, from Prudhoe, Northumberland.
“She said, ‘I have a baby here who is jumping all over the place, the baby is alive’.
Amelia looked like she was saying to me ‘Mum, please don’t take the tablets, I’m alive’.”
Amelia was born on 13th January 2014 at Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary - and, while her liver and bowel were on the outside of her body, her health is improving every day.
Her case has led to a change in NHS policy on pre-natal scans. All expectant mothers who have a scan which shows their baby has died will now be automatically offered a second scan.