Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
‘Just so grateful
Comfort for family after their ‘worst nightmare’
BEING asked to turn off your child’s life support system would be every parent’s worst nightmare.
To make the decision to take the first step to end your child’s life is a heartbreaking situation to be in.
But that is what happened to Dundee couple Kayleigh and Darren Smith.
Their baby girl Aalayah passed away last October, 20 weeks after she was born.
Following her death Kayleigh and Darren, from Mid Craigie, were able to keep her at home for 10 days leading up to her funeral on November 7, thanks to the cuddle cot they were given by the hospital.
Now the couple are raising money for another cuddle cot, so other parents in their situation can keep their baby at home as l ong as possible.
Kayleigh, 27, said: “Thanks to the cuddle cot we could have Aalayah at home with us right up until her funeral. That was very comforting for us and we want to give other parents the opportunity to spend these last days and have final cuddles with their baby.”
Kayleigh, a stay-at-home mum to four other daughters, said Aalayah was born, weighing, 6lb 9oz, on June 5 last year after a normal pregnancy that went full term.
However, Aalayah was very floppy at birth, didn’t cry and had no natural sucking reflex.
Kayleigh said: “Two days later doctors diagnosed brain damage, caused by being deprived of oxygen in the womb.
“We were shocked as all through my pregnancy there had been no indication that anything was wrong.
“The doctors told us she wouldn’t survive and we were given the opportunity to turn off the life-support system that was breathing for her.
“However, much to our amazement Aalayah continued to breathe on her own, despite us believing she wouldn’t survive the night.”
A week later Kayleigh and Darren were allowed to take their baby daughter home.
At that time the hospital gave Kayleigh and Darren a cuddle cot home with them because they didn’t believe Aalayah would live very long
Kayleigh said: “Life with Aalayah was very difficult and very different to how life with my other babies had been. She had to be fed through a tube and for the first month she didn’t cry at all so we had no idea when she was hungry or needing changed.
“She was on constant medication and all the time we knew that the doctors couldn’t do anything for her and that ultimately she wouldn’t survive.”
However, Aalayah proved to be a wee fighter and she lived another 19 weeks, before passing away on October 27.