Mar 9, 2015

Anti-abortion mum who released picture of dying 24-week baby finally has healthy child after miracle birth


  Emily Caines, who released a picture of baby being born at 24 weeks to highlight problems with the 24-week abortion limit says her broken heart has been fixed by the professor who enabled her to give birth to a healthy baby boy, Lenny (pictured) 
 
An anti-abortion campaigner who published photos of her dying baby born at the 24-week abortion limit has finally fulfilled her dream of becoming a mum - after duping her body into delaying labour.
Emily Caines, 26, was given the devastating news that any child she conceived was unlikely to survive.

After losing two babies due to premature births, doctors said her cervix was so short it would be a miracle if her womb could hold on to the baby long enough.
Photo Features Emily Caines, who released a picture of baby being born at 24 weeks to highlight problems with the 24-week abortion limit says her broken heart has been fixed by the professor who enabled her to give birth to a healthy baby boy, Lenny (pictured)
Adorable: Baby Lenny, who now weighs a healthy 9lb 1oz
But, throughout her third pregnancy, doctors went to extraordinary lengths to ensure her baby would survive.
And, after 'tricking' her body to prevent another early labour, Emily has finally given birth to healthy baby boy Lennox.
Last year, Emily made headlines when she delivered her tiny daughter Adelaide at 24 weeks, who tragically lived for just one hour.
Photo Features Emily Caines, who released a picture of baby being born at 24 weeks to highlight problems with the 24-week abortion limit says her broken heart has been fixed by the professor who enabled her to give birth to a healthy baby boy, Lenny (pictured)
The triumph: Healthy baby boy, Lennox

Despite her overwhelming grief, Emily allowed a photograph showing Adelaide struggling for life to be published, because she felt so strongly that abortions should not be carried out on babies of a similar age.
Other babies born so prematurely have survived, which she believed made ‘a mockery’ of the law allowing abortions until the start of the 24th week of pregnancy – despite recent advances in neonatal care.
Emily lost her first baby Isabelle in 2011, when she was born at 23 weeks.
Photo Features Emily Caines, who released a picture of baby being born at 24 weeks to highlight problems with the 24-week abortion limit says her broken heart has been fixed by the professor who enabled her to give birth to a healthy baby boy, Lenny (pictured)
Proud mum: Emily Caines says her dreams have come true after becoming a mum

But, thanks to medics at Southmead Hospital in Bristol, the result this time has been triumph instead of tragedy.
Describing the moment she gave birth to Lennox, who was born at 32 weeks last December, Emily said: "Isabelle never cried and Adelaide’s cry was very weak but Lennox’s was like a lion’s roar.
"We just burst into tears because we finally believed he really was going to be OK. It was amazing.
"There were so many times when I thought, “I’m never going to be a mum, ever. It’s not meant to be.
"After Isabelle and Adelaide, we asked ourselves, 'Are we going to put ourselves through this again?'
"But we just had to give it another go. I just couldn’t give up."
Photo Features Emily Caines, who released a picture of baby being born at 24 weeks to highlight problems with the 24-week abortion limit says her broken heart has been fixed by the professor who enabled her to give birth to a healthy baby boy, Lenny (pictured with nurse)
Miracle: Emily was told it was unlikely her baby Lennox would survive
Emily and husband Alastair, a 29-year-old security guard, started IVF in March last year and she was implanted with the embryo in April.
Crucially, her obstetrician Professor Tim Draycott used medical techniques designed to ‘trick’ her body into avoiding an early labour.
At 12 weeks, he put in a cervical stitch to give her womb more support and at 14 weeks, he started giving her extra doses of progesterone.
He said: "Progesterone is hugely higher in pregnancy than at other times.
"This helps to keep the uterus muscle quiet and probably helps reduce inflammation too, so there’s nothing driving it to contract before it should.
"But we think some women don’t have enough progesterone in pregnancy, so the uterine muscle sparks off.
"We know that if we give this medication, it reduces the chance of early labour by about 50 per cent."
Other precautions included prescribing aspirin to help maintain a healthy placenta, as doctors believe a breakdown triggered her miscarriage of Isabelle, and regular screening.
Photo Features Emily Caines, who released a picture of a baby being born at 24 weeks (pictured) to highlight problems with the 24-week abortion limit says her broken heart has been fixed by the professor who enabled her to give birth to a healthy baby boy
The tragedy: Emily released this picture of her baby daughter being born at 24 weeks to highlight problems with the abortion limit
Emily also spent over a month in hospital when she reached 23 weeks, so medical staff could do everything possible to stop the baby arriving early.
Nurses scanned her every 48 hours to monitor the baby and check if her cervix was shortening.
Thankfully, she did not go into labour and a week after being discharged, she enjoyed her first baby shower party with friends at home in Yeovil, Somerset.
But soon afterwards, her waters began to leak, raising the risk that Lennox could contract a potentially fatal infection.
As a result, Prof Draycott and colleagues decided it would be safer to get the baby out rather than continue to 36 weeks, which had been the target delivery date.
Five days after the birth, Lennox was transferred from Southmead’s specialist neonatal department to Yeovil Hospital, and he was discharged at three weeks.
Emily said: "Even now, I feel like Lennox is on loan because it feels too good to be true, that he is actually here.
Photo Features Emily Caines, who released a picture of baby being born at 24 weeks to highlight problems with the 24-week abortion limit says her broken heart has been fixed by the professor who enabled her to give birth to a healthy baby boy, Lenny (pictured)
Blessed: Emily says she can't thank doctors enough

"He is now 9lb 1oz, though, and doing great. He’s got some catching up to do, but he’s even started smiling.
"I tried to thank the professor but there weren’t really the words to convey what he has done for us."
Looking back on her two earlier births, Mrs Caines said she could not understand how Isabelle could have been legally aborted.
She said: "We found the term miscarriage to be offensive. But what really hurt was knowing that this country permits babies like Adelaide and Isabelle to be terminated.
"I am not opposed to late abortions on medical grounds – if there is something seriously wrong with the baby, or if the mother’s life is at risk.
‘But personally I believe that if an abortion is for social reasons – just because you’ve been lazy with contraception – then I’m 100 per cent sure the 24-week limit is too high.
Photo Features Emily Caines, who released a picture of baby being born at 24 weeks to highlight problems with the 24-week abortion limit says her broken heart has been fixed by the professor who enabled her to give birth to a healthy baby boy. Emily is pictured with her husband Alistair
Just married: Emily pictured with her husband Alistair in 2012
"We live in an age where the technology is available to keep a baby alive who is born at 23 or 24 weeks.
"I know only too well we can’t keep all of them alive, but we can save some.
"In my opinion, the limit should be lowered to 16 weeks, because four months is long enough to make up your mind if you want to keep the baby or not."
Survival rates among babies born in England at 24 weeks have jumped in recent decades.
While only 35 per cent of those admitted to neonatal care survived in 1995, 47 per cent did in 2006, according to a study published in the British Medical Journal in 2012.
But only a quarter of those who survive birth before 24 weeks escape major health problems.
Emily and Alastair Caines fell in love in the agonising weeks after she lost her first daughter Isabelle and the pair married on September 8th 2012 in a villa in Portugal - the anniversary of Isabella's birth and death.
Photo Features Emily Caines, who released a picture of baby being born at 24 weeks to highlight problems with the 24-week abortion limit says her broken heart has been fixed by the professor who enabled her to give birth to a healthy baby boy. Emily is pictured with her husband Alistair
Delighted: Emily with her husband Alistair

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has caused consternation by saying he thought the abortion limit should be cut to 12 weeks.
He said: "Everyone looks at the evidence and comes to a view about when they think that moment is, and my own view is that 12 weeks is the right point for it."
His comments caused uproar among ‘pro-choice’ campaigners, who labelled him a ‘hard-line anti-abortionist’, but also from doctors.
They said that there was no evidence for halving the time limit and that many abortions were carried out after 12 weeks for sound medical reasons.
However, other senior Conservatives have also backed lowering the limit, with Home Secretary Theresa May suggesting 20 weeks, and former Culture Secretary Maria Miller saying it is ‘common sense’ because ‘the science has moved on’.
Almost 16,000 abortions in England and Wales – nearly a tenth of the annual total – are performed after 12 weeks. Of those, 2,500 are carried out after 20 weeks but before 24 weeks.
 
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