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UK Mum gives birth to premature twins in different months

A mum has given birth to her premature twins in two different months.

Hayley Burgess from Prenton, went into labour nine weeks early, on 30 September. Late that night she gave birth to her first twin, baby Charlie, at 11.30pm and, early the next morning, on 1 October, she gave birth to his sister, baby Layla, at 12.03am.

Mum Hayley said: “I came in at 9:10pm and by 12:10am in the morning, I’d had both of them”.

“The midwife was great, she stayed up with me all night speaking to me. The staff are amazing”.

Because the twins were born so early, they are both being cared for in the neonatal unit of Wirral Women and Children’s Hospital in Arrowe Park. 

The twins’ mum said: “Layla is in intensive care and Charlie is in a separate room. I know how difficult it is having babies in two separate rooms”.

The neonatal unit is one of two Level 3 intensive care units in the area, so the 34-year-old mum has decided to fundraise to try to improve the unit caring for her children.

Head of fundraising at WUTH (Wirral University Teaching Hospital) Charity, Victoria Burrows, said: “We are really grateful to Hayley for her fundraising towards the appeal and are overwhelmed by the support that has been given”.

“This is an important appeal that will help some of the most poorly babies and their families. We also wish Layla and Charlie all the best while they are being cared for at the unit”.

The prospects for premature babies are improving all the time

Abortion is available up to 24 weeks in the UK. However, the outcomes for premature babies like Layla and Charlie are improving all the time. The twins were born after 30 weeks gestation but some babies are born as early as 22 weeks 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, presented evidence to parliamentarians from the UK and across the world showing “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]”.

Right To Life UK spokesperson Catherine Robinson, said: “The amazing advances in medical technology are improving the prospects for prematurely-born babies all the time. Prematurely-born babies, particularly those born before 24 weeks, continue to highlight the glaring contradiction between the care we provide for them and the fact that abortion is allowed for babies at the same gestation before 24 weeks and even after 24 weeks if the baby is disabled. But all of them are equally human and deserve our love and protection”.

Dear reader,

You may be surprised to learn that our 24-week abortion time limit is out of line with the majority of European Union countries, where the most common time limit for abortion on demand or on broad social grounds is 12 weeks gestation.

The latest guidance from the British Association of Perinatal Medicine enables doctors to intervene to save premature babies from 22 weeks. The latest research indicates that a significant number of babies born at 22 weeks gestation can survive outside the womb, and this number increases with proactive perinatal care.

This leaves a real contradiction in British law. In one room of a hospital, doctors could be working to save a baby born alive at 23 weeks whilst, in another room of that same hospital, a doctor could perform an abortion that would end the life of a baby at the same age.

The majority of the British population support reducing the time limit. Polling has shown that 70% of British women favour a reduction in the time limit from 24 weeks to 20 weeks or below.

Please click the button below to sign the petition to the Prime Minister, asking him to do everything in his power to reduce the abortion time limit.