The Sick Children’s Trust supported me and my family when a textbook pregnancy turned into a nightmare.

My pregnancy was pretty much a dream, but I did have a small worry at the back of my mind. I’d previously had a caesarean and so my doctors warned me that there was a small chance of complications during labour. I didn’t think too much of it as I knew that it was very unlikely.

That changed when I went into labour and my uterus ruptured. I was taken into theatre for an emergency caesarean. But worse was to come.

As the doctors delivered my daughter, Ava, they discovered she wasn’t breathing. And they didn’t know how long she hadn’t been breathing for. I had lost a lot of blood and was in shock. I felt in a daze as my newborn baby was resuscitated right there in the operating theatre.

Fortunately, Ava began breathing but she needed to be immediately transferred from Peterborough to The Rosie Hospital in Cambridge for specialist cooling treatment. Her body temperature would be reduced to lower the risk of brain damage. This was her only chance of survival. However Ava faced a huge battle as the odds were set against her. There was just a 30% chance that she would make it. And if she did, she was likely to have brain damage.

As I took this all in, I turned to look at my husband, Antony, who was struggling to see his daughter fight so hard for her life. I couldn’t go with Ava in the ambulance to the hospital, but as I watched her leave I urged Antony to go and see our baby daughter. I knew that this might be our one and only chance for him to see her alive. I made him promise to take a photo of her for me.

I was admitted onto the ward at Peterborough to recover while Ava and Antony travelled nearly 50 miles to The Rosie Hospital. Thankfully, Antony’s daughter Taylor, then 17, was staying in Cambridge at the time and met him at the hospital. Even though I felt a bit better knowing that Antony and Ava had family around them, it was awful being in a different room, let alone a different city, to my baby when she was so unwell.

Once at the hospital, Ava was cooled for 72 hours. Antony and Taylor knew that all they could do was wait. At this point, neither of us had even thought about where Antony might stay while Ava was receiving her lifesaving treatment. Ava also has a big brother, George, who was being looked after by his grandparents. How could we stay together as a family? Amazingly, as soon as Antony arrived at the hospital, he was met by a lady called Abi who worked for a charity, The Sick Children’s Trust. Abi told Antony that there was a room for him at Chestnut House, free ‘Home from Home’ accommodation at the hospital run by the charity. She took him to the house which was just below the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), minutes from Ava’s side. As Abi showed Antony around the ‘Home from Home’ which alongside our en-suite bedroom had a communal living room and kitchen, Antony noticed the play room and asked whether George could come and visit too. And Abi said of course!

When Antony told me about the lovely room he’d been given in Chestnut House, I was confused and surprised – I had never imagined that there might be somewhere to look after us like this when we needed it most. I was so relieved and grateful that there was a place, full of others going through similar experiences to us, alongside a team of people to be there to help Antony cope when I was still miles away. 

The next afternoon I was transferred to The Rosie Hospital. Finally, I could be near Ava, who was responding well to the cooling treatment. Though I’d been admitted onto a ward to recover myself, I couldn’t bear to leave Ava’s side. I spent so much of my time next to her that the nurses had to ask me to go back to my own bed! After two nights I was able to move into Chestnut House with Antony, while Ava continued to be looked after on NICU after the cooling treatment, which had been a success. I found it hard not having a bed in the same place as Ava, but Chestnut House was so close that I knew I could be with her as soon as she needed me. On top of this, the house also had breast pumping facilities, which meant that I could express milk and care for Ava as much as possible which made such a difference during what was a very difficult time. The family in the room next door were in a similar position to us and were also doing lots of night feeds. It made me feel so much better being able to chat about how we were feeling with people who understood what it was like to have your baby so sick in hospital.

We stayed at Chestnut House for a further ten nights while Ava recovered, though it felt like far longer. I can’t imagine how we would’ve coped during those days without Chestnut House and the support of the house staff, especially in the initial stages when we didn’t know if Ava would be coming home at all. Though I must admit, I never doubted my daughter’s strength. I always had a feeling that Ava would make it, even during the most difficult times, and it was amazing to be proven right.

After being discharged back to Peterborough, Ava only needed to stay another three nights at the hospital before being allowed home for the first time.

Ava has just turned one and this month is the one year anniversary of our time in Chestnut House. Ava is doing so well and although she still needs regular developmental check-ups, they have never shown anything unusual and she hasn’t suffered any brain damage. She’s a happy, cheeky one year old and you’d never know what she went through.

We’ll always be grateful to The Sick Children’s Trust for looking after us. Because of this charity we were able to be there, looking after our baby.

Claire, Ava’s Mum