A premature baby boy who was born with a 10% chance of survival is preparing to go home with his parents after three months in hospital.
Madelyn and Gabe Heredia were unexpectedly told during a routine appointment about a medical concern with their unborn child. Teddy was diagnosed with intrauterine growth restriction, meaning he was not growing as expected in the womb.
“We found out that he was incredibly small and very growth-restricted. We had a lot of placenta issues, so he was losing blood flow fast so the longer he stayed inside, the more dangerous it was”, said his mother Madelyn. “We were sort of given more of a death sentence for him than anything”.
Teddy was delivered at 27 weeks gestation, weighing just 14 ounces, and given a 10% survival rate.
A turn for the better
Teddy fought infections and pneumonia in the first weeks of his life. His mother said “He was just so fragile, so tiny, so dependent on all of this equipment”.
Teddy’s parents had two other children at home and so took turns staying at the hospital with him.
On New Year’s Day, Teddy received a steroid shot that his mother thinks may have saved his life. “That’s what got his lungs able to do anything”, she said.
Now Teddy is expected to live a full and healthy life at home with his parents and siblings.
Premature babies are surviving at increasing rates
Babies like Teddy are surviving from younger ages thanks to developments in medical intervention.
Polling undertaken by Savanta ComRes, who undertake polls for the BBC, ITV, The Independent and Sky News, shows that 60% of the general population and 70% of women support a reduction in the time limit to 20 weeks or below.
The same polling showed 60% of both Conservative and Labour voters supported a reduction in the time limit to 20 weeks or below. 65% of Liberal Democrat voters were in favour of a reduction in the abortion time limit to 20 weeks or below. Significantly, among those with children aged 18 or under in their household, 69% supported reducing the abortion limit to 20 weeks gestation or below.
A separate poll from Ipsos released in August 2023 shows that only 36% of the British population think abortion should be legal during the first 20 weeks of pregnancy. This is a significant decrease in support for abortion up to 20 weeks from the previous year conducted by the same polling organisation where 40% of people in Great Britain thought abortion should be legal in the first 20 weeks.
Spokesperson for Right To Life UK, Catherine Robinson, said “Thanks to excellent medical intervention, Teddy will soon be able to go home with his parents in spite of the challenges he faced in the first few weeks of his life”.
“The British public are also realising that medical advances are able to support more premature babies to survive to go home, and that this means a reduction in the abortion limit is not only logical, but necessary for a civilised society”.
