A baby born four months early and weighing only 1lb 6oz has been saved thanks to the work of the Jennifer Brown Research Lab.
Lili Armstrong was born four months early in Edinburgh in January 2021 to parents Delyth Hughes and Marc Armstrong. She was so fragile her parents were unable to even hold her.
Delyth, from Edinburgh, said: “At times we were living hour by hour and were told the doctors had done all they could and it was up to Lili whether she made it”.
“It was a rollercoaster as we willed her to keep fighting and she did”.
She was so tiny she could fit in her mum’s hand
Thanks to the work of the Jennifer Brown Research Lab, who had helped to discover the right oxygen levels for incubators, Lili was able to improve rapidly.
Dad Marc, a solicitor, said: “They told us she would probably need oxygen for a year but she was off it after three months. Lili is flying. She is a healthy and joyful baby and is meeting her development milestones”.
The former Prime Minister, Gordon Brown and his wife Sarah started the research centre after the death of their baby daughter Jennifer over 20 years ago. The work of the research centre helped to ensure that Lili is alive today.
It is more and more common for babies to be born before the 24-week abortion limit and survive.
Earlier this 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, showed parliamentarians evidence from the UK and across the world “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]”.
Scotland has witnessed the birth and survival of other extremely premature babies such as baby Sofia who was born at 22 weeks weighing only 500g in October 2020.
Right To Life UK spokesperson Catherine Robinson said: “Babies born before the abortion limit are a persistent challenge to supporters of abortion. There is no good argument for abortion, but as babies are born earlier, the true barbarity of the practice becomes easier for all to see”.
