Lauren Goodger says she “needs to understand” why her newborn baby died just hours after birth, following a “textbook” pregnancy and labour.
The former The Only Way Is Essex star says she’s asked for further medical tests to find out why her daughter Lorena died.
While she had planned a natural home birth, she was later rushed to hospital during labour.
The 35-year-old told The Sun newspaper: “I went into hospital thinking I would come home with a baby girl but I came home with nothing.
“Lorena was a healthy baby and it was a textbook pregnancy.”
She said the baby’s cause of death was still unclear and she was having a post-mortem conducted in an attempt to fully understand why Lorena died.
She said: “This is why I am having an autopsy. I need to understand, medically, how she died for my own sanity.”
Goodger described the 9lb baby as looking “like she was sleeping”, adding, “I thought she’d wake up”.
She went on to say: “This has been the most traumatic experience of my life.
“Since Lorena passed away, I have had so many messages from other women who have gone through this too.
“I want to talk about her death to help other parents out there going through this. I want them to know they aren’t alone.”
Earlier this month, Goodger announced on Instagram that her daughter had died shortly after birth, sharing a heartbreaking image of her holding the tiny baby’s hand.
Her former partner Charles Drury also shared his sadness at his daughter’s death, writing on Instagram “she will always be with us”.
Goodger had announced her second pregnancy at the start of this year, after learning she was pregnant just eight weeks after giving birth to her first baby, Larose in July 2021.
She found fame in TOWIE – a scripted reality show about the highs and lows of a group of friends living in Essex – and was one of the ITV show’s original cast members when it launched in 2010.
Many of the show’s cast shared their sympathy with the grieving star, including Gemma Collins and Amy Childs, as well as Geordie Shore stars Vicky Pattison and Charlotte Crosby.
Around 100 of the 700,000 babies born in the UK each year die due to complications during labour, according to The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.
Anyone seeking advice following the death of a baby can contact Sands – a stillbirth and neonatal death charity – on 0808 164 3332 or email helpline@sands.org.uk to receive bereavement support at a local and national level