YOUNG mum Clare Brown cried tears of joy after the birth of her healthy 6lb 11oz son.

But she knows she will never get over the memory of her first child, who died after just six hours because of a hospital blunder.

Her son Curtis lost his fight for life after being born a year ago with brain damage. An independent report blamed a botched delivery by a junior doctor and midwives.

Today, Clare and her husband Leigh are full of smiles after the arrival of their bouncing bundle of joy who they have named Aaron Curtis.

And Aaron, born at Eastbourne District General Hospital at 9.16am on Monday, will have all the love his brother should have had.

He was born two weeks premature by Caesarean, watched by proud dad Leigh.

The family returned to their home in Angela Close, Bexhill, today to toast their new addition.

Clare, 30, said: "I've been so protective of Aaron since he was born and I think I will always be like that. Most parents are but Aaron is even more special because of what has happened before.

"We are going to spoil him rotten.

"I wanted to get this over with. I avoided labour and went straight into hospital. I will never, ever have a normal delivery ever again after what happened with Curtis.

"When I came out, I just burst into tears. I was frantic and kept asking if he was all right and they gave him to me quickly because I think they knew what I had gone through before.

"It was an incredible feeling to hold him in my arms and know he was okay."

It was not until three months after tragic Curtis was born that the truth behind his death was revealed.

An independent report blamed a bungled delivery by a junior doctor and three midwives in the maternity ward of the Conquest Hospital, Hastings.

It said Curtis, who was born in November, 1998, had been starved of oxygen in the womb, despite showing clear signs of distress for three hours, and his mother did not receive treatment which could have saved his life.

Even when Clare asked for medical assistance after suffering agonising pain she was not given correct care.

At an inquest, a verdict of accidental death was recorded.

Hastings and Rother NHS Trust offered £10,000 in compensation and apologised for the blunder but Curtis's parents intend to pursuethe matter through the courts.

Clare felt she was unable to return to the Conquest Hospital after what had happened and instead chose nearby Eastbourne to have her child.

She said: "We considered going private but we could never have afforded it and, unless you are Posh Spice, the staff are all the same anyway.

"This time has been totally different. The staff at Eastbourne have been wonderful and the care has been first class.

"I had my own private room and everything has gone wonderfully.

"The consultants and the nurses here knew what had happened to me before but I can only assume that I got only the same level of care as anyone else would."

Despite her praise for the staff at Eastbourne, Clare and Leigh, a

32-year-old landscape gardener, feel their faith in the NHS can never be fully restored.

Clare said: "We can never forget what happened at the Conquest, although Aaron has helped heal a lot of wounds.

"We will not let things drop.

"They have said they are sorry but we can't let it go as easy as that. To offer £10,000 compensation was an insult.

"Money means nothing compared to what they did."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.