A mother who was told her baby would die and that she should have an abortion has shared how she clung on to hope and gave birth.
Kirsty Mizon was thrilled when she found out she was pregnant with a baby boy, but when her waters broke at just 13 weeks, doctors told her the baby would die within 48 hours.
She said: “I was devastated. I went home and I waited for the inevitable to happen. But it didn’t. My baby’s heartbeat was still going strong.”
One per cent
Kirsty continued: “All the way through the pregnancy they were offering me terminations and saying he will be handicapped and won’t be able to use his limbs.
“They gave him a one per cent survival rate, because I was constantly losing amniotic fluid.”
The doctors told her that her little boy would have no lung capacity, would be unable to move, and that her own life was in danger from sepsis.
“I couldn’t give up on my baby.”
Funeral
Kirsty prepared for the worst, even planning a funeral and speaking to a bereavement midwife. But despite this, she refused to lose hope.
“I didn’t know if I was strong enough to go through it but I couldn’t give up on my baby.”
She went into labour at 29 weeks and expected the worst.
“Then I heard my baby cry. It was the best feeling ever, the greatest sound I have ever heard.”
Happy ending
“The midwife turned to me and said ‘He is a she, you have a little girl’. I couldn’t believe it.”
The baby girl, whom they named Lacey, needed to be put on oxygen, and the doctors warned that if the heart rate dropped they would not be able to help her, but Kirsty described her as “a little fighter”.
“She is doing really well. She will probably be in the hospital until the New Year but she only has one problem which can be fixed with physiotherapy. I am still in shock. I just can’t believe I have a baby. A beautiful baby girl.”
She concluded: “I know it doesn’t happen to everyone and there is not always a good outcome but hang on if you can because there can be a happy ending.”