Twins believed to be the most premature babies to have survived in the UK have defined the odds and begun attending school at the age of four.
Harry and Harley, who are non-verbal and have autism, started attending a school for children with special educational needs and disabilities.
Their mother, Jade, said the twins had responded positively to their new surroundings.
“They were just smiling, it was just so heart-warming to see that they are in the right place for them – thriving and coming home ready to do it again”, she said.
Harry and Harley were born at 22 weeks and five days of pregnancy. Doctors initially gave them “zero chance of survival” and took them to the hospital’s ‘Serenity Suite’ because they were expected to die.
Despite this, their condition began to improve, and both twins survived.
Jade said that reaching the milestone of starting school had once seemed unimaginable.
“There was a time where I couldn’t even imagine getting to this point where they are even able to go to school – especially back in hospital when they were so tiny”, she revealed.
Finding an appropriate school placement was difficult, but mum Jade said it was a “massive relief” to know “they are learning and being around other children”. She encouraged other parents seeking specialist education for their children to persevere with the process.
When the twins were born, Jade was told that their delivery would be classified as a miscarriage and that hospital procedure did not provide for babies born at their stage of pregnancy to be monitored or for their mother to receive steroids intended to improve their chances of survival.
She later recalled: “How could it be a miscarriage when I could feel the babies? They were alive, but I was shocked to discover that they weren’t going to be monitored during the birth”.
“We hope Harley and Harry’s story will give people hope, as there wasn’t a lot when I was looking for other people with babies of this kind of gestation period”, mum Jade explained.
Spokesperson for Right To Life UK, Catherine Robinson, said “It is heartwarming to see Harry and Harley beginning school after doctors initially gave them ‘zero chance of survival’ and took them to a room where they were expected to die”.
“Their progress from being born at just 22 weeks and five days to thriving in a school suited to their needs is deeply encouraging. We wish them and their family every happiness as they begin this new chapter”.
