Conservative MP breaks down in tears as she recalls the night her baby son died

Antoinette Sandbach, MP for Eddisbury, made the speech during a debate on maternity units

A Conservative MP broke down in tears in the House of Commons as she recalled the death of her baby son.

Antoinette Sandbach, MP for Eddisbury, pleaded with the Government to give bereaved parents proper psychological support, telling ministers to deliver on their pledge to treat mental health issues with equal importance as physical illness.

Her son died in 2009 from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), an umbrella term used for the many different causes of fatal cardiac arrest in young people, which occurs for no obvious reason.

Most victims of SIDS are between two and four months-old and are more likely to be male.

In an emotional speech in the Commons as she battled back tears, Ms Sandbach said: "The night my son died I woke to find him not breathing.

“Arriving at hospital, looking at a flat-line in the ambulance for over 20 minutes, a crash team was waiting for me - but it was too late.

"The consultant neonatologist was calm and a reassuring presence and the nursing staff were patient.

"I readily agreed to a post-mortem, as I wanted to know exactly what had happened.

“Staff at the hospital were wonderful but I found myself in a plain room with questions being asked of me. I was told that I had to wait for the police.

"I had left in such a panic that I had left my telephone behind and I couldn't remember any telephone numbers and was there on my own."

Ms Sandbach added: "I arrived home later that morning to find the police officers going through my house," she said.

"Clearly they had to investigate as the death had been away from hospital, and I had to explain to my 6-year-old what had happened."

She added that the counselling she received was a “lifeline” and appealed to health minister Ben Gummer to safeguard and boost spending on psychological support for bereaved parents like her.