Kidnap terror haunts family

Elsje and Coenraad Pretorius are relishing time with 3-month-old Nadine. Photo / Greg Bowker

Baby is thriving but nightmares unsettle sisters.

As Elsje and Coenraad Pretorius gaze into their baby daughter Nadine's eyes there is not a hint of the drama that almost separated them forever in September.

Nadine was five days old when she was taken from Mrs Pretorius' room at Middlemore Hospital's maternity unit by a stranger. Mrs Pretorius was showering in her room's en suite, just metres from where Nadine was sleeping.

The stranger scooped up the baby and walked out of the hospital. It was a harrowing eight hours before police reunited Nadine with her panicked parents.

Three months on, Nadine is thriving and her parents have recovered from that agonising night. But it hasn't been easy.

"It's been a rollercoaster ride, really hectic," said Mrs Pretorius from the family's new home in South Auckland, decorated for their first Christmas with their three daughters.

"It took me two weeks before I could really bond with Nadine, before I could spend any real time with her.

"We moved house just after it happened and then friends and family and people from our church - everyone was coming to see us.

"It was a very emotional time for all of us, really stressful. It's only really been in the last month that everything has settled."

She often relived the horrifying moment she realised her daughter was gone.

"Here at home I also shower in an en suite, with Nadine's bed just outside. A few times I have thought 'what if I go out and she's not there again?'"

Some of the family are still having counselling. Her two older daughters have nightmares about being taken, or Nadine being snatched again.

" I think I was so busy trying to cope with a new baby and the other children and the trauma and moving house that I didn't have time to think about anyone taking her.

"But subconsciously I must have been worried, I never took my eye off her," said Mrs Pretorius.

"But it's much better now."

The family are keen to put what happened behind them and enjoy Christmas together in their new home.

"We are staying at home, it's easier with a new baby. We just want to spend time together," said Mrs Pretorius.

Mr and Mrs Pretorius will reserve any judgment on the couple charged with Nadine's abduction until they hear the full story at sentencing behind why their baby was taken.

"All I know is they looked after her, they fed her, they cuddled her and gave her a warm blanket.

"That's probably why we are not upset," said Mrs Pretorius.

She hopes 2015 will mean good health for Nadine and her children will feel safe and secure again.

Guilty plea, tighter security the upshots

• Loni Marsh, 27, pleaded guilty to a charge of kidnapping baby Nadine and an unrelated charge of driving while disqualified. She will be sentenced next month. A 31-year-old man charged with kidnapping previously pleaded not guilty and elected trial by jury.

• Since Nadine's kidnapping Middlemore Hospital has reviewed security and is considering a number of changes to prevent similar incidents, including an alert system that could be activated if a baby was taken outside an authorised area. Additional security cameras have also been installed