I just wanted to save my baby
MOTHER’S ANGUISH AS DAUGHTER DIES AFTER TWO HOURS
A MUM has vowed to fight for justice for the premature daughter she said was “robbed of her right to life”.
Sophie Dennis gave birth to her “perfect” sixth child Autumn on October 17 at 22 weeks and five days, but lost her just two hours later.
Before she gave birth, the 32-yearold was told by doctors that there was “nothing they could do” for babies born at 22 weeks.
But Sophie, from Heaton, Newcastle, said Autumn was in the “grey zone” of viability and should have been given a chance to survive.
“All they could talk about was how disabled she would be and she would have no quality of life – but she was a fighter from the word go.
“She came out breathing and kept herself alive for two hours.
“I was told to prepare myself for the fact that she may not have a nose or ears, but she was perfect – she had everything.
“We should have had the right to say that if that baby is alive and breathing we want you to do everything you can to help her.”
Sophie had been through five problem-free pregnancies when she and her husband learned they were expecting their sixth earlier this year.
She first suspected something was wrong when she started bleeding while on a family holiday in Marbella and went to a hospital.
When she returned to Newcastle doctors told her she had a subchorionic hematoma – when the placenta detaches from the site of implantation and causes a blood clot.
Although scans showed a healthy baby, Sophie described her pregnancy as a “downward spiral” as she suffered constant bleeding and feared she would lose her child.
“In the midst of all this we found out we were having a little girl so I let my guard down a little bit,” she said.
But her worst nightmare came true on October 16 as she celebrated her son Nova’s first birthday.
Sophie started suffering pains and she went to the Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI) where a doctor gave her the news she had been dreading.
“After an examination I was told: ‘I’m sorry, there’s nothing we can do. Your membranes are in the birth canal. She’s coming tonight.
“I’ll never forget that sentence. I remember just letting out this noise - I can’t explain it, I felt like my world had just crumbled.
“We asked if our little girl would be helped, and quite simply the answer was ‘no’ because she was too young and not deemed viable.
“They said it wouldn’t have been fair on her and that she wouldn’t have grown, but I have seen babies born at 22 weeks and they do grow – no two babies are born the same.
“I didn’t question it because I was in shock, but I just didn’t feel that we had the option to fight for her.”
Sophie added: “She fought like the little fighter she was from the word go. We got a few hours with her breathing, her little heart beating hard at work.
“We couldn’t do anything to help but make her feel as loved as we possibly could until she passed away. In that moment our hearts broke all over again.”
Now Sophie has arranged to meet staff at the RVI and has vowed to “get justice for my child”.
She said: “I think any life that comes out breathing and making an effort to survive, that baby should be helped and they did nothing for her.
“I will live with that until I die – having my baby on my chest and apologising to her, saying I couldn’t do anything for her.
“But I promised her I would change things for every other baby born after her.”
A Newcastle Hospitals NHS Trust spokesperson said: “Our thoughts are with Mrs Dennis and her family at this very difficult time.
“Patient confidentiality prevents us from commenting publicly on individual cases. However, when a baby is born pre-term their care and treatment is determined by careful and detailed consideration of a wide range of factors that are individual to that family.”