All we wanted was for them to find her and as soon as possible and that whoever had her would look after her

Deanne Rice

A massive search began and Elizabeth was eventually recovered by police at an address in Dudley seven hours later.

Reflecting on the moment she realised Elizabeth had been taken, 32-year-old Mrs Rice, a dentist from Oldswinford, Stourbridge, said she had been "utterly devastated" to find that her baby had been taken.

"I can't describe what went through my mind. Obviously complete and utter devastation.

"We were basically constantly praying, praying that she was alright. We were just hoping that somebody somewhere would find her sooner rather than later."

Mrs Rice, who has also has a 16-month-old daughter, had been waiting for her husband Richard, 30, to arrive and take her and the babies home when she fell asleep.

'Dozed off'

When she was woken by one of the nurses around 1330 BST, she discovered that Elizabeth was gone.

She described the events that followed as a "bit of a blur".

"I had just fed the babies and was having a lie down and dozed off.

Deanne Rice talked of being in "hysterics"

"The next thing I knew I heard one of the nurses coming round doing a head count, saying 'you've got your baby' and walked off.

"As far as I was aware, they were just doing a headcount. I just thought perhaps they had taken Elizabeth off to take her temperature."

Mrs Rice said she told one of the midwives that her baby was missing and asked if a nurse had come in and taken her.

A nurse then went to look for Elizabeth and returned to explain that there were reports of a baby being taken out of the hospital.

Mrs Rice said: "I was concerned, but I wasn't distraught at that time because I wasn't quite sure what had happened.

'In hysterics'

When Elizabeth was not found, Mrs Rice said she began to panic.

"I started to get churned up. You're bound to. The nurses couldn't tell me immediately where she was.

"She went off to say that Elizabeth was gone. Somebody phoned the ward to say that somebody looked like they had a baby down their top and was leaving the hospital.

"That was when I knew she was gone."

When her husband Richard arrived, both were taken into a side room.

Richard Rice was told the news in a side room

"We were both in hysterics," said Mrs Rice.

"All we wanted was for them to find her and as soon as possible and that whoever had her would look after her."

The couple decided to take the remaining twin, Susannah home at around 1800 BST that evening and just over two hours later, they received the news from police that Elizabeth had been found.

Mrs Rice said: "To me it wasn't over. Until I held her in my arms it wasn't going to be over for me."

Elizabeth stayed at the hospital overnight and returned to the family home the following day.

Now Mrs Rice says she is concentrating on family life.

"I don't think you can go through much worse.

"Now I've got her back, that's all I'm concentrating on. She needs a lot of love and attention and that's what we're concentrating on - family life."

An 18-year-old woman from Pensnett, Dudley, was charged with kidnap and will appear again before Wolverhampton magistrates on 16 May.