A baby diagnosed with a heart condition in the womb is now flourishing thanks to a pacemaker, all because her mum chose life.
Rae Dawson was offered an abortion at 20 weeks’ gestation after medics said her baby’s heart was not pumping blood correctly and she may not survive.
However, the girl’s parents decided to go ahead with the pregnancy. Shortly after birth, Esmé was fitted with a tiny pacemaker, and a year and a half later she is reportedly “coming on in leaps and bounds”.
‘Determined’
Rae recalled: “The sonographer ran the scanner over my stomach and then he went quiet and kept looking at the screen.
“He asked me to move around a little to make the baby move and then he said her heart rate was very low. He came back with another doctor who confirmed that she had a low heart rate.
“They sent us to another local hospital which confirmed she had this condition. It was devastating. They offered us a termination as they said she may not survive, but we were determined to give her every chance we could.”
Esmé, who weighed just 5lbs 2oz at birth and was only seven days old when the device was inserted, is one of the youngest and smallest babies to receive a pacemaker.