In the operating theatre, Bianca was drifting in and out. Her body was numb but she was damningly aware of everything else. The sounds of the stainless--steel instruments, the tense faces of the medical team as they worked in near silence.

The strong overhead lamp beating down on her. She moaned. She wanted to see her baby, to know that the little life she had carried in her belly all these months was safe. Tears of helplessness trickled down her cheeks as she thought of the unborn ...