THE PARENTS of a 'miracle' baby boy given a slim chance of survival after being born four months premature are now looking forward to taking him home.
Charlie David Shearing was born at Hillingdon Hospital on June 27 last year, after just 25 weeks of pregnancy and weighing just 910 grams – a little over 2lbs.
After a ten-month stay in three London hospitals, during which Charlie has had several major surgeries and eleven blood transfusions, he is now on the road to recovery at Hillingdon Hospital's Peter Pan Ward, and is ready to be discharged.
His mother, Samantha Shearing, told the Gazette: "After everything we have been through, I never thought I would see the day when he would be well enough for us to take him home. It is horrible to say, but all of the consultants we have seen have told us that he should be dead. It has been a very rocky journey."
He was born four weeks AFTER Ms Shearing, of Denecroft Crescent, Hillingdon, was rushed to hospital when her water broke, on May 28. The amniotic fluid protects the baby and helps it develop, and mothers usually go into labour within 72 hours.
Delaying the birth left mother and son prone to infection, but against advice from doctors to induce the birth early and effectively say goodbye to her newborn son, Ms Shearing and her ex-partner Stuart Bernard insisted that he be delivered naturally, however long that would take.
"It was a hideous time, but it was my motherly instinct that was telling me I was doing the right thing. The more I was being told that he wouldn't make it, the more determined I was to do everything I could to stop that. His heart was still beating, and we wanted to let nature run its course."
When he was finally delivered, doctors had to resuscitate him after he suffered a collapsed lung, and he was transferred to Queens Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital specialist maternal unit shortly after.
Three weeks into his stay there, he suffered a cardiac arrest and doctors brought him back to life after 45 minutes of cardiac massage. Because of his stunted development, Charlie has had to be fed through a gastrostomy tube directly into his stomach, and has undergone Bronchotomy surgery to help with his breathing.
Both parents and their three year-old daughter, Olivia, have been at Charlie's bedside around the clock, and Mr Bernard said that a lot of sacrifices have been made along the way.
"We have both lost our jobs because of the time we have spent in hospital, and because we haven't been earning, we haven't been able to make ends meet financially. Unfortunately we haven't come out of this as a family, but we are still good friends and now we have Charlie."
Had he been born at 21 weeks, things could have been very different. Less than half of babies born at this stage of pregnancy survive, and because the abortion limit is at 24 weeks gestation, doctors are often reluctant to treat babies born before this cut-off point.
A high proportion of those born before 26 weeks develop disabilities, but aside from treatment for lung disease, Charlie is displaying no signs of other impairments.
Ms Shearing added: "He really is one in a million. He's really been through the wars but he's still smiling! We owe everything to all the nurses and doctors at the three hospitals, particularly Queen Charlotte's. It hasn't always been plain sailing, but without them, he wouldn't be here today.
"I can't wait to go back to visit and show him off, all of the doctors will be amazed at how far he has come."
