Mum’s anger after funeral director keeps baby’s body at home

10 hours agoAnna CrossleyBBC Yorkshire and Lincolnshire InvestigationsReporting fromLeedsZoe WardZoe Ward pictured with her son, Bleu, before he died of brain damage at three weeks oldWarning: This article contains distressing contentA funeral director has been banned from NHS maternity wards and mortuaries in Leeds after keeping babies’ bodies at her home, a BBC investigation has revealed.Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust said it had barred 38-year-old Amie Upton from its mortuaries and maternity wards in spring this year.One mother said she had been left “screaming” after discovering her dead son had been put in a baby bouncer “watching cartoons” in Ms Upton’s living room.Ms Upton said she had only ever had two complaints in her eight years of running her baby loss support and funeral service, Florrie’s Army.Zoe Ward’s baby, Bleu, was three weeks old when he died of brain damage at Leeds General Infirmary in 2021.Ms Ward, 32, asked Florrie’s Army to arrange his funeral, after a recommendation from a family friend.She said she had spoken to Ms Upton and thought the service sounded “brilliant”.Florrie’s Army said it supports bereaved parents, offering free handprints, photographs, baby clothing and a dedicated funeral service.According to her posts on Facebook, Ms Upton set up the group after her own daughter was stillborn in 2017.Ms Ward said Bleu’s body had been picked up from the hospital by someone on behalf of Florrie’s Army.She said she had thought he would be in a “professional setting”.But when she went round to visit the next day, Ms Ward was “terrified” to see Ms Upton “watching” cartoons with her son’s body next to her in a baby bouncer in the living room.”I realised it were Bleu and she [Ms Upton] says: ‘Come in, we’re watching PJ Masks.'”There’s a cat scratcher in the corner and I can hear a dog barking and there was another [dead] baby on the sofa. It wasn’t a nice sight.”I rang my mum and I’m saying, ‘This ain’t right’… I was screaming down the phone [sa…