Express & Star

So lucky that our baby is now healthy

They were looking forward to the arrival of their first born like any other couple. But soon they were helping their baby daughter fight for her life.

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Ben Grasham, Chelsea Thomas and their nine-week-old daughter Zara Grasham, who are fundraising for new equipment for Stoke Hospital who helped save Zara's life after complications following her birth

Ben Grasham and Chelsea Thomas, of Bayston Hill, Shrewsbury, had excitedly enjoyed a problem-free pregnancy. Though when the time came for their baby daughter Zara to be born, complications ensued and their world was turned upside down.

Chelsea was over her due date, but there were no signs of any potential problems when she arrived at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital for Zara’s delivery. "They put me on the monitor and there were no concerns at that point at all," she said. "It was a really low risk pregnancy."

With Chelsea being on the edge of active labour, her midwife decided to break her waters to see if it would help move her labour forward.

On doing so however, it was discovered that Zara had released her bowels inside the womb. This can be dangerous as a baby's first faeces – medically known as meconium – often have a 'tar like' consistency, and if inhaled or swallowed in the womb can cause infections, inflammation, breathing difficulties and blockage of the lungs.

The decision was made for Chelsea to be taken straight away to the Princess Royal Hospital, Telford, where the specific care required could be administered.

Within the hour of her arrival there, Zara was born. However, it quickly became apparent that she was unable to clear her lungs and had inhaled a large quantity of meconium.

From then, the battle to keep her alive began.

Firstly the medical team needed to inflate Zara's lungs. "Luckily they managed to do this," said Ben, "but they had to burst her lung to get the pressure that they needed."

Unfortunately, as Zara had been without oxygen for some time she had suffered a seizure.

Acting quickly, hospital staff made the decision to give Zara a ‘cooling’ treatment, designed to reduce body temperature and blood flow, with the aim being to protect her brain from inflammation and any further potential damage.

Once Zara was stable enough she was moved to the level three Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Royal Stoke University Hospital, where the specialist care she needed – including further cooling treatment – could be continued.

However Zara's fight was far from over. Only hours after her arrival at Royal Stoke, Zara suffered an episode where she developed a condition called Persistent Pulmonary Hypertension of the Newborn (PPHN). "This basically meant that the capillaries in her lungs shut down,” said Ben. “She had oxygen starvation again for a brief spell."

Zara was sedated on morphine and temporarily paralysed to prevent her from doing harm to herself and damaging the medical equipment that was helping her.

Along with treatment to raise her blood pressure to try to keep her lungs open, Zara was put on a ventilator to take over her breathing. She remained on this level of treatment for around a week, being constantly monitored in an incubator, but with her instability meaning physical contact was not permitted.

All Ben and Chelsea could do was wait. “I’d sit there some days and be like ‘what am I going to do with her room?’, ‘I can’t go back to my home without her’,” said Chelsea. “During the worst bits I was just thinking ‘I can’t leave without her – I can’t do it’. It was just horrible and so scary. You just don’t know what’s going to happen.”

Ben added: “It was very real. “It was never a given that we were definitely going home together.”

After three days of cooling treatment, medical staff began to increase Zara's temperature back to normal, while monitoring her brain activity for seizures and adjusting her temperature as required. They also began to take Zara off the drugs that had been used to treat her to see how she reacted.

Thankfully, Zara responded well. "She had a couple of little episodes but she was doing ok," said Ben. "After about a week they said we were more or less out of the danger zone."

Thanks to what both Ben and Chelsea hailed as exemplary care across every hospital in which Zara was treated, they were able to bring her home alive and well. "Everything they did – from Shrewsbury to Telford to Stoke – you can’t fault them," said Chelsea.

Ben added: “If the midwife at Shrewsbury hadn’t made the decision she did then Zara could have died there and then. Going to Telford saved her life, and Stoke protected it."

Zara Grasham

The various procedures that Zara received were vital, yet a particular piece of equipment involved in her cooling treatment played a very important role.

"When we are looking after a baby being cooled we're wanting to accurately monitor how a baby's brain is functioning," said Dr Lee Abbott, consultant neonatologist at Royal Stoke University Hospital, and one of those instrumental to Zara's care. "We use something called a cerebral function monitor – a CFM monitor. Thankfully at the moment we do have one state-of-the-art machine which allows us to monitor the brainwaves in a lot of detail and can directly help us diagnose some conditions and manage some specific circumstances. Zara received that.

"We do on occasion have two babies at a time that need that kind of monitoring and whilst we have a good second monitor it would be a dream of ours to have two of the highest quality monitors because there are a few extra 'bells and whistles' that really help us."

Keen to show their gratitude to one of the units that helped save their daughter's life, Ben and Chelsea have begun a campaign to raise the funds needed for this second state-of-the-art CFM Monitor for Royal Stoke, in the hope that it can help save the lives of more babies like Zara in the future.

In the first major push towards their £15,000 target, Ben, Chelsea and their extended family and friends will be attempting to complete a climbing walk of the Welsh three peaks within 24 hours.

The climb – incorporating Snowdon, Cader Idris and Pen y Fan – will take place on July 12.

“We were going to do it over two days but we’ve decided to just do it on one," said Ben. "We’ll get up at around 4am and go to Snowdon. There are between 10 and 15 people doing it. We then go to Cader Idris and then over to the Brecon Beacons for the last one. It’ll be about 18 hours roughly."

The challenge may be tough, but both Ben and Chelsea are steadfast in their commitment.

"I said to the hospital, ‘there’s no way I’m leaving without knowing what you need’, and at the top of the list was the monitor," said Ben. “I’d feel bad if we took all of that treatment and didn’t give anything back. I didn’t really know how to say thank you – you can’t really. This is our way of saying thank you. There are also smaller things like scanners that – should we exceed our target – we will look to help with."

Aside from the climbing walk, Ben and Chelsea have set up an online donation page via JustGiving, and are looking to raise more funds in any other way they can.

"We’ve had 2,000 leaflets done that I’ve been putting through doors," said Ben. "Our mums are going to be doing supermarket bag-packing, and we’re also going to put fund-raising buckets in different places."

Unsurprisingly, Dr Abbott and the team at Royal Stoke are thankful and humbled by Ben and Chelsea's planned efforts.

"We're obviously so pleased and grateful when parents will do this and are able to do this," said Dr Abbott.

"The NHS can provide and we can provide top of the range international levels of care. What we ask for in terms of charitable assistance tends to be the things that add an extra bit of quality or an extra bit of support beyond the normal NHS funding.

"I would like on behalf of the unit to express our sheer gratitude for what they are preparing to undertake and what they are preparing to do. It absolutely will make a difference to other families and to help people to understand what we're here for. We hope that we don't have to meet you, but we're here if you need us."

Happily, following a recent MRI check up, Zara appears to be healthy and doing well.

"So far she is doing everything she should be," said Chelsea.

Ben added: “She has got scans to have and six-monthly check-ups for normal development. But she’s putting on weight well, so hopefully it’s all good from here."

Admirably positive following an incredibly emotional ordeal, Zara's parents are simply thankful that their family is now complete and safe.

"We got to take our baby home," said Chelsea. "Some people don’t get to leave with their baby. Sometimes it does really hit you. We’re just so lucky. Very, very lucky."

To help Ben and Chelsea with their fundraising efforts, visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/zaras-thankyou