Identical twin girls, Florence and Mabli, beat the odds after being born ten weeks premature with only a ten percent chance of survival. The girls are coming up to their first birthdays and their parents have shared how amazing it is that they’ve reached this milestone.
“We had two who had to beat the odds”
Laureanna Bond, mum to the twin girls, said “We were told not to get our hopes up. Their odds were not good and we had two who had to beat the odds”.
“We thought we might lose them before they were born, and the same on day three”.
“I couldn’t go with [Florence] and, saying goodbye to her as she was transferred, I didn’t know if that was the last time I would see her”.
The twin sisters, from Mostyn, North Wales, were separated for their treatment and taken to hospitals 13 miles apart. Florence was born weighing less than a kilo, and her sister Mabli only weighed a little over a kilo. Against the odds though, these beautiful twin girls made it and will be together to celebrate their first birthdays.
Their dad, Tom, expressed his thanks to the wonderful teams who helped his daughters survive and thrive. Tom said “We have a family because of them and these two will have a whole life because of them”.
The prospects for premature babies are improving all the time
Abortion is available up to 24 weeks in the UK. However, the outcomes for premature babies like Florence and Mabli are improving all the time. The twins were born at 30 weeks gestation but some babies are born as early as 22 weeks and survive.
Last year, John Wyatt, Professor of Ethics and Perinatology at University College London and also Emeritus Professor of Neonatal Paediatrics, Ethics & Perinatology at University College London, presented evidence to parliamentarians from the UK and across the world showing “that there has been a steady improvement in the chances of survival of babies born at 22 and 23 weeks gestation since the Abortion Act was last amended [in 1990]”.
Catherine Robinson, spokesperson for Right To Life UK, said “Amazing advances in medical technology mean that chances of survival for premature babies are improving all the time. Wonderful stories like that of Florence and Mabli contrast with tragic instances of babies’ lives being ended by abortion at the same gestation. Seeing these twin girls born at 30 weeks reminds us of the humanity of the child in the womb and highlights how the abortion laws in the UK need to change urgently”.
