diff --git a/parent/mailauth/templates/mailauth/login.html b/parent/mailauth/templates/mailauth/login.html
index 94dff2b8..0ed67788 100644
--- a/parent/mailauth/templates/mailauth/login.html
+++ b/parent/mailauth/templates/mailauth/login.html
@@ -1,10 +1,7 @@
-{% extends 'base/base.html' %}
+{% extends 'base/babex_base.html' %}
 {% load i18n %}
 
 {% block content %}
-    <div class="uu-hero">
-        <h1>ILS Babylab</h1>
-    </div>
     <div class="uu-container">
         <div class="col-12" >
             <h2>{% trans 'parent:mailauth:login:header' %}</h2>
diff --git a/parent/mailauth/views.py b/parent/mailauth/views.py
index 651c7ded..7bfb5d31 100644
--- a/parent/mailauth/views.py
+++ b/parent/mailauth/views.py
@@ -47,6 +47,9 @@ class LoginFormView(FormView):
     success_url = reverse_lazy("mailauth:sent")
 
     def form_valid(self, form):
-        # TODO: check the response
-        gateway(self.request, "/gateway/mailauth/", data=dict(email=form.cleaned_data["email"]))
-        return super().form_valid(form)
+        ok, _ = gateway(self.request, "/gateway/mailauth/", data=dict(email=form.cleaned_data["email"]))
+        if ok:
+            return super().form_valid(form)
+        messages.error(self.request, "login failed")
+        return super().get(self.request)
+
diff --git a/parent/parent/templates/base/babex_base.html b/parent/parent/templates/base/babex_base.html
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..39c2f151
--- /dev/null
+++ b/parent/parent/templates/base/babex_base.html
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+{% extends 'base/base.html' %}
+{% block uu-content %}
+    <div class="uu-hero">
+        <h1>ILS Babylab</h1>
+    </div>
+    {{ block.super }}
+{% endblock %}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/parent/parent/utils.py b/parent/parent/utils.py
index cd4f876a..529c55d8 100644
--- a/parent/parent/utils.py
+++ b/parent/parent/utils.py
@@ -43,12 +43,17 @@ def gateway(
         else:
             method = "get"
 
-    response = requests.request(
-        method=method.upper(),
-        url=settings.API_HOST + url,
-        headers=headers,
-        json=data,
-    )
+    try:
+        response = requests.request(
+            method=method.upper(),
+            url=settings.API_HOST + url,
+            headers=headers,
+            json=data,
+        )
+    except Exception:
+        log.exception("Could not reach gateway")
+        return False, dict()
+        
     if not response.ok:
         log.error("Gateway request %s failed: %s", url, response.text)
     if len(response.text):
diff --git a/parent/parent/views.py b/parent/parent/views.py
index 9587d4db..6dbfd2ac 100644
--- a/parent/parent/views.py
+++ b/parent/parent/views.py
@@ -52,8 +52,11 @@ def form_valid(self, form):
         # filter out blank fields
         fields = {key: value for key, value in form.cleaned_data.items() if value is not None}
         signup = Signup(**fields)
-        signup.put(as_json=True)
-        return super().form_valid(form)
+        if signup.put(as_json=True):
+            return super().form_valid(form)
+        
+        log.error("Couldn't reach server while processing signup")
+        return super().get(self.request)
 
 
 class SignupDone(TemplateView):