A “miracle” baby boy was born at just 23 weeks and had to spend 230 days in hospital before he was finally able to go home.
Lucy Havard, 30, had to go into labour early after complications were discovered while she was pregnant with twins. She said “I went into labour early because I had developed something called twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome, which is where both the boys shared a placenta and one was getting more than the other”.
“So I had a laser surgery done, but the risk of that laser surgery whilst pregnant was that my waters could break early, which is subsequently what happened”.
Due to the difficulties with her pregnancy, Lucy had to give birth to her twin boys, Freddie and Charlie, on 16 January 2025, at just 23 weeks gestation. Sadly, Lucy was told that it was unlikely the twins would survive. With Freddie weighing just 610 grams and Charlie barely 600 grams, the boys “had a lot of complications” and “weren’t able to breathe by themselves”, she said, adding, “I’ve never seen anything like it before”.
Baby proved “all the doctors wrong” after five surgeries
Tragically, after spending a week at Medway Maritime Hospital, Lucy and partner, Sonny, lost Charlie. Freddie was then transferred to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at the Royal London Hospital, Whitechapel.
Lucy vowed to “stay strong for Freddie”, who stayed at the Royal London Hospital for 230 days, undergoing five surgeries, and proved “all the doctors wrong” before coming home on 3 September.
Doctors at the hospital saved Freddie’s life several times, with Lucy describing the medical team as “absolutely incredible”. “We were told even months into his journey in the NICU that he still wasn’t going to make it because he was just so, so poorly”, she added.
“But then he’s just been so strong and fought against all the odds thrown at him, all the infections, he’s had sepsis, everything you can imagine he basically had to deal with”.
After Freddie’s uncertain start in life, Lucy now describes him as “happy” and “healthy”, and stated her wish to “share some hope” with people in a similar position, saying “[T]here’s very few stories out there of babies being born at his gestation and his weight and surviving”.
“So, I just wanted to share some hope for other people: even if the doctors are preparing you for the worst it doesn’t mean that’s always the case because he’s proof, he did make it”.
“Miracles do happen”.
Spokesperson for Right To Life UK, Catherine Robinson, said “It is wonderful to hear that little Freddie defied the odds and is doing so well, and our gratitude is with the medical team who supported him through his many difficulties in hospital”.
“Very premature babies like Freddie demonstrate how resilient even the youngest humans in our society are and point to the humanity of the children in the womb”.
