Clara’s Story
World Prematurity Day
Nearly 58,000 babies are born prematurely in the UK every year and for World Prematurity Day on the 17th of November, we are sharing Clara’s story. She is just one of the 13 babies born prematurely every year in the UK and when her mum Gabby felt unwell, she had no idea she was going into early labour.
At 33 weeks during my second pregnancy in April 2019, I was feeling very unwell and suffering from severe sickness. I had Hyperemesis Gravidarum with both pregnancies so I thought it was just that at first. But I knew something was not quite right.
An early birth
I arrived at Whipps Cross Hospital at 6pm and at 6.30pm Clara was born, with me under general anaesthetic as it was discovered that I had a placental abruption and was bleeding internally. Clara was revived and taken straight to NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit). I only met her properly the next day.
Clara’s NICU journey
Over the next few months, we had lots of ups and downs. Clara developed Necrotising enterocolitis (NEC) and was transferred to the Royal London Hospital where she spent a few weeks receiving treatment. Unfortunately, she had another bout of NEC along with sepsis and was transferred to Great Ormond Street Hospital. The London Neonatal Transport Service transferred us between hospitals, which looked after our precious cargo on every trip. During her hospital stay, we had some very scary days where we watched her not respond to treatment, flatline multiple times and develop blood clots in both her legs which required ongoing treatment.
In total, Clara spent five months in hospital. We will always be so grateful for the care, love and support we received from the staff, especially at Whipps Cross Hospital as we had another daughter, Violet, who was only 14 months old when Clara arrived.
Advice to other NICU parents
Having a baby in special care can feel like a very isolating and out-of-body experience. It is almost as if you are living in a bubble and everything seems to carry on on the outside world as normal while you are going through the lowest lows but also the highest highs when you reach little milestones.
My advice to other NICU parents would be to reach out and talk about your experience with whoever you can and celebrate the ‘good’ days however you want to, too.
Becoming a Neohero
On one of our last days rooming in at Whipps Cross Hospital, I saw a poster about Ickle Pickles. I knew I wanted to get involved and give something back to the unit for everything they had given us. I have since become the Neohero for their neonatal unit.
A happy ending
Clara is now at primary school and is a very confident, energetic and athletic little girl - who has no fear!
With Whipps Cross Hospitals’ support, I went on to have another baby at the end of 2023 who arrived at 38 weeks via planned C-Section.
