Premature twins, George and Jennifer, have finally gone home after being born at 24 weeks, weighing just over 1lb each, and spending over a hundred days in hospital.
Everything was going as expected for 39-year-old mum Katrina Pugh, from Newmains in Scotland, as she was coming to the end of her second trimester and pregnant with twins. However, she suddenly had to be admitted to University Hospital Wishaw suffering from back pains and discovered she was going into early labour at just 24 weeks gestation.
Her daughter Jennifer was born first, weighing just 1lb 2oz, and was followed by her son George who weighed just over 1lb 5oz. They were so premature that both babies were immediately placed on life support.
“George and Jennifer were formed but they just didn’t look like you’d expect a baby to look. You could see through them and their eyes were still closed. They were so tiny and you could sit them in the palm of your hand”, their mum said.
“We asked if they were going to be alright, and no one could tell us. They said they would do everything they could. It was only when we were getting them home that they admitted they didn’t know if they were going to make it”.
Jennifer and George both required life-saving procedures
Both babies had retinopathy of prematurity, a condition that can affect extremely prematurely born babies and can even result in blindness, and required injections in their eyes in order to treat this condition. Despite initially being the heavier baby, George had more health issues, suffering from an extended belly, which crushed his lungs and prevented him from breathing. He had to go through four surgeries.
Jennifer was able to go home after 107 days in hospital, but not even a week later, she had to go back.
“It was such an emotional journey”, Katrina said. “We only had Jennifer home for six days and she had to be taken back in and ventilated, she had bronchiolitis and was back in for 11 days. She is still on oxygen”.
Even though Jennifer was home with the family, they had to wait a total of 180 days for her brother George to leave the hospital.
The NICU at Wishaw is now under threat
Katrina and her partner Barry are now backing a petition to retain the current level of service at the Wishaw NICU, which is due to be reduced. The plan is that babies born before 27 weeks gestation will be transferred to Glasgow, Edinburgh or Aberdeen.
“If what happened to me happens to other mums their babies won’t make it”, Katrina said. “Their chance of life is being taken away from them”.
“I had 12 people in my room at the same time dealing with a tiny new baby. But you’re not going to have all these nurses, doctors and consultants in an ambulance with you. It’s not fair and they should all be given the same chance”.
“The nurses and doctors at Wishaw are all amazing. The level of care was incredible and for those beds to be taken away is just crazy”, she added. “I wouldn’t have my weans if it wasn’t for them. We owe them so much”.
A large majority of the public support reducing the abortion time limit
At 24 weeks, Jennifer and George were born at the point of the current UK abortion limit.
A large majority of the British public support reducing the abortion time limit.
Polling undertaken by Savanta ComRes, who undertake polls for the BBC, ITV, The Independent and Sky News, shows that 60% of the general population and 70% of women support a reduction in the time limit to 20 weeks or below.
The same polling showed 60% of both Conservative and Labour voters supported a reduction in the time limit to 20 weeks or below. 65% of Liberal Democrat voters were in favour of a reduction in the abortion time limit to 20 weeks or below. Significantly, among those with children aged 18 or under in their household, 69% supported reducing the abortion limit to 20 weeks gestation or below.
Spokesperson for Right To Life UK, Catherine Robinson, said “It is lovely to hear that Jennifer and George are doing so well after their unexpectedly early birth. Stories like these demonstrate how crucial it is that hospitals continue to provide high-quality specialist care for premature babies, without which many more would not survive”.
