Parents have shared their joy and relief that their baby – born a week before the abortion limit – is alive and well.
Born at just 23 weeks, Arthur Brumby was not expected to survive. Within his first six weeks, he suffered a life-threatening E.coli infection and two brain bleeds, but he is now doing well.
It is currently legal in Great Britain to abort children up to 24 weeks, or up to birth if it is believed that the baby will be born with a disability.
‘Fighting’
Arthur’s mother, Laura, and father, James, both suffer from health problems affecting fertility, so the pair had not expected to conceive naturally.
They were thrilled at the news, but days after being told the pregnancy was progressing well, Laura went into labour at 23 weeks.
She said: “He was clearly fighting to be there. The doctors were trying to put tubes in him and he was fighting them off. It was amazing to see.”
‘Wonderful’
He was rushed to a neonatal intensive care unit, where he underwent sodium and blood transfusions.
Laura added: “He’d initially been wrapped in a plastic freezer bag to replicate the womb, but he was by this point in an incubator. He had wires coming in and out of him and was tiny.”
She said: “He shouldn’t be here. But he is, and he is wonderful.”
Christmas
It was four weeks before Laura was able to hold her son, and another week before James had the opportunity.
The family will spend Christmas Day at the hospital, and Arthur is expected to go home for the first time in March.
