Mum’ s tribute to NHS staff for saving premature baby

Premature Fife baby Harper Kirk made a very dramatic entrance into the world earlier than expected this year, but despite that, she’s now thriving at nine months.

Harper, from Kirkcaldy was delivered at just 27 weeks. And on World Prematurity Day, her mum Sophie paid tribute to the NHS staff who have helped her and said she owes them “everything”.

At the end of February, mum Sophie had to face an emergency ambulance dash from Kirkcaldy’s Victoria Hospital to the Princess Royal in Glasgow.

As it was the only intensive care cot available in Scotland, the family found themselves miles apart when Harper arrived at just 27 weeks.

Then in March, Harper, who mum Sophie described at the time as a “fighter,” was well enough to be transferred to Victoria Hospital’s Special Baby Unit.

It also marked her coming home to Fife and meeting her sisters Mia, 3, and Louisa, 18 months.

By April, she was discharged and came home, but Sophie said it hasn’t all been smooth sailing since.

She said: “She caught bronchiolitis at the end of September and was really poorly with it, so she had to have a stay in the hospital.

“She’s a bit wheezy still, but her consultant says that’s normal because premature babies have such small nasal passages you can really hear it when they get bunged up.”

“I am hoping we manage to get through the winter without another hospital visit because there are just so many bugs going about,” Sophie added.

But despite the setback,

Harper is doing really well. She is about to make the transition to baby milk from the premature milk she’s been on since birth because she is now more than 15lbs in weight.

And she is especially popular with her two big sisters.

Sophie said: “They absolutely love her. When Mia comes in from nursery, she goes right up to her bouncy chair to say hello.

“Harper is laughing, trying to sit up and playing with her sisters. She’s doing everything other babies her age are doing.

“We’re so excited for Christmas this year as a family and the kids are dying to get the Christmas tree up already.”

And Sophie said she and husband Andrew can’t thank the NHS enough for what they’ve done for Harper.

She said: “They’ve

treated her like one of their own. The fact that she made it through against the odds when we were

told she might not make it is amazing. I take my hat off to them – I owe them everything.

“They saved her. Andrew and I can’t thank them enough for the support that they have given us.”

Harper was born at just 27 weeks but is thriving thanks to the NHS.