Mother who lost son due to NHS mistakes welcomes new baby

A mother whose 12-month-old son died due to NHS blunders has given birth to a baby boy.

Melissa Mead, who lost her son William to sepsis in December 2014, gave birth to Arthur William Mead on Tuesday.

He weighed 7lbs 11oz - the exact same weight as William.

William died after GPs, out-of-hours services and a 111 call handler failed to spot he had sepsis caused by an underlying chest infection and pneumonia.

A report into his death said opportunities were missed to save the little boy's life after his parents were repeatedly told he just had a cough.

Mrs Mead, from Penryn in Cornwall, relentlessly pursued answers as to why her son died and has now become a high-profile campaigner to raise awareness of sepsis.

Her social media campaigns to stop other people dying from the condition have gone viral, with hundreds of thousands of views.

She and her husband Paul announced their new son's arrival on Twitter and Facebook.

Mr Mead wrote on Facebook: "Melissa, William and I would like to announce the arrival of the new addition to our family.

"Arthur William Mead was born on 27th September at 10.41am weighing 7lbs 11oz (exactly the same as William).

"Melissa has been amazing as usual and Arthur is just perfect.

"We all want to thank everyone in advance for messages as it could take a while before we get round to answering them as we have our hands full! Xxxx"

Mrs Mead wrote on Twitter: "Introducing Arthur William Mead".