Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Little Layla enters the world...12 weeks early at 1lb 8oz
A COUPLE have spoken of their baby girl’s fight for life — after Layla was born 12 weeks early, weighing just 1lb 8oz.
Last Friday, Ashleigh Stevenson and her fiance Gordon Bryce went into hospital for a scan of their unborn daughter, who was due in January.
Two days later, they were holding Layla Sheila Rose for the first time.
Today the couple spoke to the Tele about the decision to have her daughter 12 weeks early after a scan at Perth Royal Infirmary showed complications.
Doctors there referred the couple to a Ninewells specialist after tests showed a lack of variation in their baby’s heartbeat.
Ashleigh, who spent six years working and studying in Dundee, said: “We knew it was a possibility that she’d be born early.
“We went to Ninewells, they had a look — and out she came.”
Little Layla — named after the classic Eric Clapton song and grandmothers from both sides — weighed a tiny 1lb 8oz when she was born on Sunday by Caesarean section.
She has had a blood transfusion and remains under close observation in Ninewells.
Ashleigh says the situation for the tot — who is not much bigger than a 500ml bottle of cola — is “touch and go”.
She said: “They believe there may be an infection somewhere. It’s a case of wait and see.
“They aim to try to have Layla out by her due date in January. Anything before that is a bonus.”
Dad Gordon spoke of his tiny ‘miracle-in-the-making’.
He said: “The miracle for me will be in three months when she leaves hospital.
“It’s difficult enough for people like us to fight off infections. For someone that’s not fully developed, when she comes out — that’s when she’ll be a miracle.”
Going from a scan to giving birth in the space of 48 hours was “surreal”, Ashleigh admits, but said NHS staff have been “incredible”. She added: “They’ve done everything they could and that I could have expected along the way.
“It’s the simple things. We’ve been given our own room and Gordon can stay here as long as he wants.”
Ashleigh was also full of praise for her husband-to-be.
The two met in 2013 in Broughty Ferry, where she worked at a travel