The mother’s instinct that saved my baby’s life
Television news reader EMMA CROSBY reveals how ‘counting kicks’ saved her perfect pregnancy from ending in tragedy
THE intimacy of the moment is striking in the candid snapshot taken by Emma Crosby’s husband Jeremy the moment his television newsreader wife was handed her newborn baby in hospital. But look closer at the tiny, fragile scrap cradled in the mother’s arms and you see breathing tubes and surgical tapes.
Mary, less than a day old, had been fighting for life in neonatal intensive care since her birth. And this was the first time Emma had been able to kiss her daughter.
Even then the couple could not be sure she would survive. Today Mary is a boisterous, giggling threemonth-old, her survival testimony to the ‘astonishing, incredible’ care she received at London’s Chelsea and Westminster NHS Hospital.
But Emma, 38, who had been on-screen reading the news just weeks before the birth, also had an integral part to play in avoiding what very nearly could have been a tragedy.
And she credits a littleknown charity with saving her baby’s life. The organisation, Kicks Count, aims to educate women on how changes in baby’s movements can be a sign of distress – and how being aware of such changes could help prevent some stillbirths or neonatal deaths.
Despite having had a ‘textbook perfect’ pregnancy, in the final days around her due date she became terrifyingly aware that something wasn’t right.
She says: ‘I was about 39 weeks when I noticed that something had changed in the baby’s movements. She didn’t seem quite as active as I’d been used to, so I immediately went to hospital to get checked out but was told everything was fine.’
When Emma was almost 41 weeks, she visited her midwife, and it was agreed that she would be induced if labour did not happen naturally within the next seven days, an option routinely offered to women who don’t go into labour naturally by 42 weeks.
Reassured, Emma and her husband went home to get some much needed rest.
‘I’d had a bath to relax me and felt the baby kick while I was in the water, but by 1am I was still awake,’ she says. ‘I realised she hadn’t moved for quite some time and the worry set in. I couldn’t shake the feeling that all was not well.
‘A friend had introduced me to the Kicks Count website, which tells you to call your midwife or maternity unit immediately if you think your baby’s movements have slowed down or stopped altogether.
‘With that advice in my head, I called the hospital.’
Emma was told to lie on her left side, as a baby’s movements are most likely to be felt when a woman is lying down in that way. When nothing happened after two hours, she called the maternity unit again and was told to go to the hospital.
She says: ‘I woke Jez and we both got dressed and got to the hospital at 6am.
‘I was taken to an assessment room and when they found the baby’s heartbeat, the whole room breathed a sigh of relief. It was decided I’d be induced there and then since I was in hospital.’
Soon though, relief turned to panic, when the baby’s heart rate suddenly dropped. ‘Jez ran out of the room for a midwife, and I was transferred to the labour ward and had my waters broken.
‘The water was very dark and I was in distress, so a caesarean was necessary. My plans for a natural birth went out of the window but I didn’t care – I just wanted my baby to be out and healthy.
‘I was given a spinal block so I couldn’t feel or move anything and I remember being very spaced out. Suddenly Mary was out but her cry sounded strange. I knew something was wrong.’
Mary had inhaled meconium – a baby’s first waste – which can pass into the amniotic fluid and block their airways if breathed in. She needed oxygen to help her breathe and intravenous antibiotics to prevent infection.
Emma was sent to recovery and her baby girl was taken to intensive care.
Emma says: ‘For that first hour my eyes were fixed on the door waiting for Jez or a doctor to come in with a horrible look on their face. I’d waited so long to get pregnant and now I was facing the real possibility that I could lose my baby. The doctors described Mary’s condition as very poor, but said that she should be fine. I didn’t like the sound of “should” in that sentence.’
Mary responded well, and by lunchtime she was discharged from intensive care to the high-
dependency unit. Mother and daughter spent a week in hospital before going home. ‘Afterwards I was told I’d come into hospital in the nick of time,’ says Emma. ‘But I shudder to think what might have happened if I had dismissed my concerns and gone back to sleep that night.
‘I’m so very grateful that I knew about the importance of monitoring foetal movement, otherwise Mary might not be with us today, which is a terrifying thought.’
Kicks Count says while there is no set number of ‘ kicks’ that a mother should be feeling during pregnancy, the charity urges women to follow Emma’s example and contact their midwife if they notice a decrease in their baby’s regular movement pattern.
Kathryn Gutteridge, a consultant midwife, says: ‘Sensing a baby’s movement is not only part of the bonding process for a mother and her child, but also a hugely important way to monitor how a baby is doing.
‘We often have women calling saying that something isn’t quite right or that they “have a hunch” because they notice their baby’s pattern of movement changes.
‘Sadly, not all stillbirths can be prevented, but it’s crucial mothers know the importance of foetal movement – not just kicks, but a general pattern of swishes, flutters or rolls – and speaking to a mid- wife without delay if they notice a change.’
Ms Gutteridge adds that educating mothers-to-be on how to monitor foetal movement could save lives. ‘Simply advising mothers to keep an eye on movement is not enough. We need to educate women on what to look out for, and what to do when they are worried. A woman knows her baby best.’
Emma agrees, saying: ‘ Never think you are being silly. Always get something checked out.’
She added: ‘ You would never know Mary had such a traumatic arrival. I still can’t believe she’s here and how lucky we have been.’
• More information can be found at kickscount.org.uk