Little Annie was born 6 weeks early at Wirral Women and Children’s Hospital on 27th March 2014. She weighed just 4lb and although her mum Vicky had been given steroids to help Annie’s lungs, she had to go on a ventilator to help her breathe under the care of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. During this time, Annie had to be resuscitated 3 times.
Mum Vicky explained: “Watching your tiny baby being worked on to save her life was the most heart-breaking thing to witness, but at the same time I would not have been anywhere else. If I was going to lose my princess, then I wanted to be by her side no matter what!
“Thanks to the fast-responding, highly-trained and well-equipped staff, Annie survived. After six days in intensive care, she progressed into the High Dependency Unit where a CPAP machine (continuous positive airway pressure) helped her to breathe by gently inflating her lungs and keeping them open. Annie also required phototherapy to breakdown a substance called bilirubin, which causes jaundice.
“I sat next to her incubator day in, day out, jumping at every alarm and slowly becoming familiar with which sounds were OK and which meant there was a problem.
“This not only applied to my precious baby but also to her incubator neighbours, whose parents we became incredibly close to.
“Having kangaroo cuddles was the highlight of every day on the unit. That skin-to-skin closeness helped me to feel like a mummy and I made sure that I was always around for every wash, every nappy change and every tube feed.
“My schedule was vigorous as I was expressing every 2 hours around the clock. I barely slept, I barely ate and I think I only saw my husband and other children seven times throughout the month that we were in hospital.”
Despite going through an extremely difficult time, Vicky praises the neonatal staff who not only saved her daughter’s life but were also a great help to her personally. In particular she highlights how supportive they were of her determination to breastfeed her baby and is grateful that once Annie was well enough to go home, their support continued with neonatal home nurses visiting every few days to make sure that any worries were addressed.
Vicky also highlights the “phenomenal” support of NeoMates, which is a peer support group open to anyone who has had a baby cared for by Wirral’s Neonatal Unit. What started as a local coffee morning every Wednesday in the on site Ronald McDonald House, has since expanded to include national Facebook and Twitter groups with members from all over the country. In addition to supporting each other, sharing advice and swapping stories, the members often get involved in consultations, training and fundraising initiatives for the hospital. As it has progressed, the NeoMates community has also gone on to welcome parents from other hospitals looking for support and encouragement from people who understand what they are going through.
Annie is now almost 3. Commenting on her progress Vicky said: “She is a boisterous, headstrong independent little girl who has come on in leaps and bounds since her special care baby journey. Although she has a bowel condition, she does not let it hold her back.
“Her bravery and courage inspires us all and we count our lucky stars every day that thanks to the team at Arrowe Park we have our beautiful princess in our lives.”
