Baby who had heart surgery at five weeks is born fighter

Published on Thursday 7 January 2010 21:51

A BABY girl who weighed less than 2lb when she was born and underwent a life-saving heart operation at five weeks old has fought her way back to health.

Amy Reid was born 13 weeks premature, weighing just 1lb 15oz.

For the first five weeks of her life, her parents could not even pick her up because she was so seriously ill. A faulty valve in her heart was flooding her lungs with blood and it was feared she would not survive.

But after major surgery, Amy proved doctors wrong and is now making a full recovery. Such an operation a child so young is extremely rare.

Amy's mother Celly, 22, said: "We've nicknamed Amy our miracle child, she's like a brand-new baby ever since her operation.

"I never thought I'd be so happy to be woken up in the middle of the night for feeds.

"But after being terrified I might lose her, it's even more special being a mum to her now."

Amy was born on 13 September, the fourth child of Ms Reid and her husband Angus, joining Holly, five, Tyrone, four, and Kyle, three.

Amy was due on 12 December, but her mother was given an emergency Caesarean section after the placenta became infected and started to poison food passing through her womb to Amy. The baby was taken to the neonatal unit at Aberdeen Maternity Hospital, where she was hooked up to a drip, ventilator and blood pressure and heart monitors.

It was two and a half days later that her parents were told Amy had an open valve in an artery leading from her heart. In most babies, the valve closes automatically during labour, but because Amy was so premature it did not.

Ms Reid, a full-time mother from Macduff, Banffshire, said: "We knew this was serious. I asked the doctor if she was going to die and he said it was a possibility."

The open valve meant too much blood was being pumped through one of Amy's arteries. The excess blood filled her lungs and she could not breathe properly.

After medication had no effect, doctors had no choice but to fly five-week-old Amy to Yorkhill Hospital in Glasgow, where surgeons stitched the faulty valve shut.

"We were told she was doing well and when she came back to Aberdeen I could see the surgery had worked wonders. That was when she was finally well enough for me to be allowed to pick her up and give Amy her first cuddle after a whole five weeks."

Amy, now almost four months old, has fought her way up to a healthier 6lb 18oz.