LAUREN’S
JOURNEY continued
After
24 weeks she was transferred to Kings College Hospital
on the other side of the capital. At 27 weeks Lauren’s
heart rate was barely registering and Claire had developed
pre-eclampsia, along with everything else, so doctors
performed a crash caesarean section.
After
Lauren was born, doctors warned she may not make it
through the night but she pulled through the first two
nights by which time Claire was well enough to see her
for the first time. Early on her third day Lauren suffered
a massive brain haemorrhage and Claire and Nick were
given the option to turn off her life support machine.
They
did not, deciding that if Lauren was prepared to fight
then they should not give up on her, despite the risks.
With the constant threat of not making it through the
night, Lauren was baptised by Rev Alan Comfort in her
incubator at Kings.
Lauren
continued to fight against set backs and infections
for the next eight weeks, needing two lumber punctures
for a condition on her brain called hydrocephalus until
she could be moved back to Whipps Cross and nearer to
home.
On
Christmas Eve Lauren was rushed from Whipps Cross to
the Western Eye Hospital. Blood vessels in her eye had
burst which meant she would have grown up with extremely
poor sight and even blindness.
Yet
at 13 weeks old she was allowed home with no tubes and
monitors. Even then she needed constant help maintaining
her temperature and even needed waking to feed.
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She
suffered from fluid on her brain which would have caused
severe headaches and needed cuddling to sleep again. On
one of these episodes, on March 2nd, Lauren died in Claire’s
arms.
Her
struggle inspired Nick and Claire – and Ben who had
been through so much so young – to make it their
fight to do whatever they could to prevent others going
through the same experience. This ranges from supporting
the medical staff who provide help, creating more doctors
and physicians in an area sadly lacking in specialists
and providing equipment for hospitals to funding vital
research into the causes of illnesses which cause mothers
to give birth prematurely and how this can be prevented.
From
a personal point of view, running the charity helps Nick,
Claire and Ben come to terms with what happened. It also
gives more purpose to Lauren’s short life, it recognises
the fantastic attitude of the doctors and nurses involved
and it can create something positive from what all they
have endured.
For
thousands of other mothers and their babies throughout
the country, it provides hope that they will never have
to go through this experience.
The
work that can be done from the support of the charity,
from it’s many donors and supporters, will have a
positive effect on the role of Consultant Obstetric Physicans
and Special Care Baby Units in the Great London Area.
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