Colne parents whose premature son died shortly after birth but whose little girl is continuing to prove a “miracle” have thanked dedicated staff at Lancashire Women and Newborn Centre for helping them through such a difficult time.
Amanda and Stacy Gilpin from Colne attended a special coffee morning on the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) with seven-month-old Angela, and her older sister Kayleigh.
Angela and her twin brother Warren were born at 24-weeks after Amanda’s waters broke and both were born weighing just over 1lb - together the equivalent of a bag of sugar.
Warren, who was transferred to Manchester Children’s Hospital, died shortly after birth but Angela has defied the odds and despite being on oxygen 24/7 is continuing to do well.
Amanda said: “The staff on the unit were absolutely great and always made us feel welcome and helped us enormously when Angela was in the NICU and Warren was in Manchester and we had to spend the time with him.
“They really went above and beyond to provide support for our family. Even arranging for us to ensure that we spent precious time together with both twins after he passed away in Manchester.
“They always had a smile and time to talk – without them, it wouldn’t have been so easy to get through such a hard time.”
More than 30 families from across Burnley and Pendle went to the event, which was held to mark World Prematurity Day.
Staff were joined by children and parents they have helped in the past and present as they raised awareness of the care they are able to give to premature babies.
One in ten babies worldwide is born prematurely, and NICU staff wanted to raise awareness of this and show that with the advances in treatment, these babies are in the safest hands.
Wendy and Stacey Stevenson from Burnley also came to share their experiences.
Stacey was born 25 weeks early and was on oxygen for the first 18 months of her life.
Wendy said: “Stacey wasn’t expected to survive but thanks to the staff, she did and despite her health problems, has grown into a teenager who now studies at Ridgewood High School.”
NICU sister, Claire Harrison who organised the event said: “It is lovely to see so many people here today and know how having a premature baby has touched them.
“Our staff really get to know the parents and babies as we can be caring for them for anything up to five months and lots of our families have helped with our display of their experiences of prematurity and spending time on the NICU unit – hopefully, this will help other families who find themselves in the same situation.
“Being born too soon can make babies very vulnerable and many causes of prematurity are still unknown but we do all we can on the unit to care for these babies and their families to give them the best start in life possible.”
Money raised at the event, which encouraged people to wear the neonatal colour purple, went into the NICU endowment fund.