Praise after Telford hospital unit saves baby George
The Shropshire parents of a baby who was born 10 weeks prematurely have praised the neonatal unit which saved their son's life.
Sarah Stevens, of Shawbury, was given an emergency caesarean when she was only 30 weeks pregnant with her son George.
The 29-year-old felt cramps and went to the Princess Royal Hospital, in Telford, where they carried out the emergency procedure.
When George was born on October 20 last year, he was struggling to breathe and the doctors diagnosed him with a rare condition called Prader-Willi Syndrome.
Around one in 15,000 babies are diagnosed with the condition, which affects muscle tone and the part of the brain which knows you are full – so people affected are constantly hungry and can eat themselves to death.
George was kept in hospital for 15 weeks, 10 of which were in the neonatal unit. He was taken out of the unit just before Christmas and was then kept in the new Women's and Children's Centre before finally going home.
Sarah and husband Paul said the staff in the hospital were fantastic and have praised the work they did to save their son's life. Mr Stevens, 35, said if it was not for the unit George would not have survived. "The neonatal unit really did save his life as they said if Sarah's waters had broken at home he wouldn't have made it," he said.
"Sarah felt cramps in her stomach, so we went to hospital to make sure she was okay, but they said she was in labour, which was causing her the pain. They took her straight into theatre and she had an emergency caesarean at 30 weeks.
"George was then kept in the neonatal unit for 10 weeks, but was in hospital for 15 weeks in total. He was then diagnosed with Prader-Willi Syndrome, which is a really rare condition.
"They did lots of tests on George and it took three weeks to find out what he was suffering from because it is so rare. When he finally came home he was on oxygen, but he is off that now and he really is doing great."
While the family were in hospital they also met Princess Anne when she officially opened the Women and Children's Ward in January.
Nine-month-old George was christened at the weekend at St Mary's Church in Shawbury and the family managed to raise around £400 for the neonatal unit. Mr Stevens, and friend Mark Perks, will run the Birmingham Half Marathon in October in aid of the Prader-Willi Syndrome Association UK.
