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

“Miracles do happen”: Premature baby born at 23 weeks and spending 230 days in hospital now home

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”.

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.