Mother's heartbreak: How 30 blunders by hospital killed my newborn baby

But the baby she and husband William had longed for lived only two days, killed by the professionals entrusted with his care.

Mr Callaway, 39, a university registrar, and his wife, a television producer, now know that their child would have lived if 30 warnings, clearly shown on a heart monitor, had been understood by staff at Watford General Hospital.

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The evidence of Alwyn's failing heart rate was recorded in medical notes and reported to senior staff 11 times in seven hours - yet no one understood the baby's life was in danger.

A specialist registrar even used the cardiotachograph (CTG) recording of the baby's heart rate as an example of a normal labour as he taught a student - oblivious to the fact that Alwyn was being fatally brain-damaged.

A damning report by the Health Service Ombudsman for England condemns as "indefensible" the way Mrs Callaway's labour was managed.

The report states that a drug used to speed the labour should have been stopped when the CTG showed signs that the baby was being deprived of oxygen.

Instead, staff doubled the dose of Syntocinon, a synthetic version of the hormone which controls contractions.

The report concludes that the baby should have been delivered by caesarean section four hours earlier than his eventual birth - at 3.32pm - but "a system failure" meant the warning signs were not spotted.

An independent expert quoted by the Ombudsman said: "It is difficult to avoid the clear conclusion that the most important test of fetal wellbeing - the CTG - was actually giving all the clues it needed to about the fetal condition but that this was simply not recognised by those looking after Mrs Callaway."

A caesarean delivery before 10.50am would probably have been associated with a "good outcome", he said, adding: "'I would have expected the registrar, other doctor or a midwife to have appreciated the deterioration in this baby's condition in labour."

The shocking truth about Alwyn's death has taken almost four years to emerge but the Callaways have always been determined eventually to expose the appalling catalogue of errors which cost his life.

Mrs Callaway, 41, who has since had two healthy sons, said: "We had decorated the nursery ready for Alwyn and were so looking forward to our baby."

She still cries when she recalls the birth. "You are so trusting when it is your first baby. You don't question things.

"I thought everything was normal and the staff kept saying they were happy with the labour.

"I only started to panic at the end when the midwife put me on my side "to make the baby more comfortable".

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But Alwyn was finished by then. His heartbeat was dying out.

"They tried to get him out five times with a suction cap and when they finally pulled him out with forceps he was just plonked on my chest and I shouted to William, 'He's dead! He's dead!'."

She said the baby had huge gouges on his head from the forceps and was not moving.

A team worked on him for 20 minutes, leaving without a word to the Callaways.

"As far as I was concerned, my baby had been killed by his horrific and brutal delivery."

The couple realised their son had been in distress for seven hours only when they received a copy of the medical notes.

These showed his heartbeat slowing during contractions and taking progressively longer to get back to normal.

When the hospital did not admit mistakes or apologise, the couple complained to the Healthcare Commission and in July 2005 took their case to the Ombudsman.

His report has vindicated their determination to gain justice for their son, stating that Mrs Callaway's concern about the abnormal CTG trace was validated by his investigation.

Following the traumatic birth Alwyn - his names means most beloved - was transferred to intensive care at Queen Charlotte's Hospital in West London.

Mrs Callaway was allowed to touch her child once before he was taken away.

She was reunited with him the next morning but he lived for only two days.

"So many people came to his funeral, it was overwhelming," she said.

After the tragedy the Callaways moved repeatedly, carrying Alwyn's ashes with them, before finally returning to their native Wales.

They have since had two more sons, Iolo, two, and Macsen, nine weeks.

Last year West Herts Hospitals NHS Trust paid substantial damages out of court to settle the couple's legal case for negligence.

The Callaways had wanted their day in court but were frightened that mounting legal costs would leave them homeless.

Mr Callaway, who does voluntary charity work with other bereaved parents for the Stillbirth and Neonatal Deaths Society, said the hospital trust's maternity services were named by the Healthcare Commission as the worst in England in January - three and a half years after his son died.

The trust offered its "sincerest condolences" for the Callaways' "sad loss" but said it could not discuss the case for legal reasons.

In a statement, it claimed that Watford-General was "one of the safest" hospitals in the country, according to a separate report on safety and quality of maternity services.

A spokesman admitted that the trust has learned from "failures" in its service and, following the Healthcare Commission's criticism, is appointing 18 extra midwives and improving its training.

Mrs Callaway leafs through the photographs of Alwyn moments after he was disconnected from all the monitors and respirators to die and she could finally hold him.

She says: "He looks so strong in these photos, but he didn't stand a chance.

"We brought his blanket home with us and kept it in a plastic box so we could keep his smell.

"It was all we had left of him. No one should go through what we have gone through."

In memory of Alwyn Callaway, the Daily Mail has agreed to make a donation to the Stillbirth and Neonatal Deaths Society (www.uk-sands.org).