Urgent appeal to build on the momentum from the defeat of the assisted suicide Bill and make this victory last.
DONATE NOW
Select Page

Born at 25 weeks with two holes in her heart – but now she’s thriving

A premature baby girl who was born at just 25 weeks gestation with two holes in her heart has finally left the hospital after an incredible 99 days in care. 

Lauren Spruill had a complicated medical history and believed that she would never be able to conceive a child naturally. However, while training to be a doctor, Lauren unexpectedly fell pregnant.

“I was just over the moon that I was pregnant, actually really pregnant. I couldn’t believe it”, she said. For Lauren, it was a very pleasant surprise. “I know that one of my callings is to be a mum”, she added.

Unfortunately, though, things did not go smoothly. Difficulties began when she was only 12 week pregnant when Lauren began having abdominal pain. She had to attend the emergency room three times in just over a week during this period. 

“It felt as if someone was ripping, like, my organs apart from the inside”, she said. “I felt this pregnancy is not gonna go to full term and I’m most likely going to miscarry. Inside I was broken. It feels like it’s slipping out of my hands, and I had no control over that”.

Lauren was put on bed rest, with doctors hoping this may ameliorate her issues, but at 23 weeks gestation, her water broke, and she was rushed to the hospital. She was admitted to the hospital and given medication in an attempt to postpone the delivery of her baby.

“I was scared of not knowing what was going to happen next. I was scared of, is my baby going to make it?” Lauren recalled. “I felt myself losing control of the pregnancy and I did not have any answers. I was preparing myself for the worst”, she added.

Less than two weeks later, she developed a serious infection that doctors believed to be life-threatening, leaving her with no choice but to give birth to her baby early. 

“I wanted to cry, but no tears would even form”, Lauren remembered. “I was just exhausted at that point because every time I felt as if I was taking one step forward to get to being able to hold my baby, something else was going wrong. And I was a nervous wreck”.

At just 25 weeks gestation, Lauren gave birth to baby Samantha, weighing only 1 lb 12 oz. 

“When I heard my baby cry for the first time, it was the most beautiful sound ever. I was just so happy that she was finally here”, Lauren said, looking back on the time. 

Samantha had several serious health complications, including a severe brain bleed, underdeveloped lungs, two holes in her heart, and fluid on her brain. She required multiple surgeries, including two brain operations. 

Doctors warned Lauren that even if baby Samantha did survive, she might never walk or talk, and she may have other disabilities. “I had to make life and death decisions”, Lauren recalled.

However, Samantha defied the odds and only grew stronger. After 99 days in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), Lauren’s baby was finally allowed to go home. 

Now, some time has passed, and baby Samantha is walking, learning, and thriving at home. “To see my daughter today is such a joy. Being her mom is just amazing”, Lauren said.

Spokesperson for Right To Life UK, Catherine Robinson, said “We are grateful to hear that baby Samantha is doing so well at home, and that she continues to develop and live a happy life in spite of the challenges she faced as an extremely premature newborn”.

Urgent appeal 
to save liveS

Help stop three major anti-life threats.

Help build on the momentum from the defeat of the assisted suicide Bill and make this victory last.

Dear reader,

Thanks to the hard work and dedication of people like you across the UK, after a two-year battle, MPs voted by 286 to 270 to reject the Edwards assisted suicide Bill.

This followed the defeat of the McArthur assisted suicide Bill in Scotland by 69 to 57 in March this year.

Many commentators thought both Bills would become law.

If that had happened, this would have led to the deaths of many thousands of vulnerable people over the coming decades.

Because supporters like you acted, those Bills were stopped.

Because of you, many vulnerable lives have been saved.

A prominent pollster described the campaign against these major attempts to introduce assisted suicide, which brought together people from all walks of life across the UK, as one of the “most successful 21st Century UK social issue campaigns”. You helped make that possible.

WHY WE MUST NOT STOP HERE

What we have achieved together is extraordinary. But we must not rest on our laurels.

Dignity in Dying, a multi-million-pound pressure group, has made clear that it will keep campaigning to legalise assisted suicide. 

We cannot wait until another Bill is brought forward. We need to keep pressing for better care and strengthen the case against legalisation now.

WHAT COMES NEXT

The next phase of our Support Not Suicide campaign will operate across Parliament, media, online and in grassroots communities in every constituency across the United Kingdom.

Our focus now is to build on that momentum from the defeat of these assisted suicide Bills and make these victories last.

We want to build a United Kingdom where assisted suicide is seen as unnecessary – and where legalising it is seen as unthinkable.

The first part of that work is a sustained push for universal access to high-quality palliative, hospice and social care. No one should feel driven towards assisted suicide because they cannot get the care and support they need. 

We have already asked supporters to contact their MPs about improving care. With your help, we will keep that pressure on in every constituency, brief MPs and Peers on gaps in care, and make the case for better provision in the media.

The second part is building on these wins to ensure more MPs and more of the wider public understand the dangers of legalising assisted suicide. We will put evidence of those risks before MPs and Peers. We will work with mainstream journalists to bring the voices of people directly affected, doctors and other experts into the national conversation, and produce clear videos and articles that supporters can share online and in their communities.

Our network of 250,000 supporters covers every constituency in the UK. Thanks to people like you sharing our content, our posts and videos have been viewed more than 100 million times online in the last year. 

We want to utilise that massive reach for this next phase of the campaign.

WE CAN ONLY DO THIS WITH YOUR HELP

The two-year fight to stop these Bills drew heavily on our limited resources.

To replenish those resources and fund the next phase of the Support Not Suicide campaign, we aim to raise at least £199,250 by midnight this Sunday (4 October 2026).

We are, therefore, appealing to you to please give as generously as you can today.

Every donation, large or small, will make a crucial difference in protecting vulnerable lives. Plus, if you are a UK taxpayer, £1 becomes £1.25 with Gift Aid at no extra cost to you.

Will you donate now to help make these victories last and protect vulnerable lives?

Urgent appeal 
to save liveS

Help stop three major anti-life threats.

Help build on the momentum from the defeat of the assisted suicide Bill and make this victory last.