Born at just 23 weeks Bella Davison is her parents’ little miracle.
When she first entered the world, aged a week before the legal abortion limit, Bella weighed just over 1lb.
At 11 weeks she has more than quadrupled in size.
And her amazing journey, that should be taking place inside the womb as her due date is not until November 12, has prompted her mum Vicky Jackson to call for the abortion limit to be lowered.
Vicky told the Newcastle Chronicle : “I think the abortion limit should be significantly lowered to 10 weeks unless there is a medical reason as to why it’s later.
“Bella is living proof that babies can survive at 23 weeks old. Perhaps 10 years ago it was completely different because there was not the medical advances that there are now to keep such premature babies alive, but things have moved on.
“I know people whose babies were born at 23 weeks and their children are now going to school, so it shows that in this day and age babies can survive.”
Bella’s plight has attracted followers from around the world, after her mum started a blog about her daughter’s brave fight for life.
Bella DavisonProud: Bella Davison and her parents
Vicky’s regular Facebook posts about her Beautiful Bella and life on the Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU) at Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary was started initially to give family and friends daily updates on her daughter’s condition as her life hung in the balance.
But they have gathered more and more followers, with messages of support coming from as far away as Texas, America.
Now, as Bella is moved out of the “red area” but remains in the RVI, Vicky and partner Graeme Davison, who live in Morpeth, Northumberland, hope that by sharing their story they can raise vital funds for the Tiny Lives Trust, the charity that supports the babies and their families on the unit.
They also would like to raise awareness and debate about premature babies and the 24 week limit when a foetus officially becomes “viable.”
Sadly doctors were unable to save Bella’s twin sister Sophia, but Vicky and Graeme’s determination to get Bella home, hopefully in time for Christmas, is helping them to focus despite their grief.
“We were completely shocked to find out we were having twins, but so excited,” said Vicky, a barmaid at the Ridley Arms, Stannington.
“Everything had been going fine until one day I noticed some bleeding so I went to the hospital for a check-up.
"While I was there I went into labour and felt the need to start pushing. ‘You have to stop it,’ I shouted, ‘it’s too soon, I’m only 23 weeks,’ but my waters had broken and there was nothing they could do.”
Bella Davison
VIEW GALLERY
The twins were born by Caesaran section at Wansbeck General Hospital four months before their due date.
Bella came out breathing on her own and was taken straight to the RVI where’s she’s been ever since. But Sophia suffered complications during the birth.
“The nurse was crying as he whispered in my ear that they had done everything they could, but they couldn’t save her,” said Vicky.
“We knew we had to stay strong for Bella and from day one our focus has been to get her home. Maybe then we will have time to grieve properly.”
But the couple, both former students at King Edwards VI school in Morpeth, thought they may lose both their daughters when Bella suffered a bleed on the brain when she was one day old and doctors told them to prepare to say their goodbyes.
But thankfully, and possibly in part due to the fact that her brain is still developing, she pulled through and doctors are hopeful that no major long-term damage has been caused.
It was two weeks before Vicky, who turned 30 last week, could hold Bella for the first time.
“It was extremely frightening, she was so tiny, her skin was transparent and I had to make sure I kept the ventilators straight in her little mouth. She felt as if she weighed nothing, but it was the best day of my life.
“The hardest thing was having to leave her there, but now we have got in a routine and go back to visit her every day. We had one day off in the first 10 weeks when we didn’t go.
“It’s much better now she is out of the incubator and off the red unit, where the most poorly babies stay. We can help with her care and do her feeds.
“She is just our miracle. On paper she is not ‘viable’, but she’s living, breathing proof that babies can survive from 23 weeks. I am so thankful that the doctors gave her a chance.”
Friday, 10 October 2014
Read about and see the miracle baby born at 23 weeks as mum calls for abortion limit to be lowered
Mum of miracle baby born at 23 weeks calls for abortion limit to be lowered
Oct 09, 2014 11:21 By Helen Rae
Bella Davison, who was not due to be born until November 12, has prompted her mum Vicky Jackson to call for the abortion limit to be lowered
Born at just 23 weeks Bella Davison is her parents’ little miracle.
When she first entered the world, aged a week before the legal abortion limit, Bella weighed just over 1lb.
At 11 weeks she has more than quadrupled in size.
And her amazing journey, that should be taking place inside the womb as her due date is not until November 12, has prompted her mum Vicky Jackson to call for the abortion limit to be lowered.
Vicky told the Newcastle Chronicle : “I think the abortion limit should be significantly lowered to 10 weeks unless there is a medical reason as to why it’s later.
“Bella is living proof that babies can survive at 23 weeks old. Perhaps 10 years ago it was completely different because there was not the medical advances that there are now to keep such premature babies alive, but things have moved on.
“I know people whose babies were born at 23 weeks and their children are now going to school, so it shows that in this day and age babies can survive.”
Bella’s plight has attracted followers from around the world, after her mum started a blog about her daughter’s brave fight for life.
Bella DavisonProud: Bella Davison and her parents
Vicky’s regular Facebook posts about her Beautiful Bella and life on the Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU) at Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary was started initially to give family and friends daily updates on her daughter’s condition as her life hung in the balance.
But they have gathered more and more followers, with messages of support coming from as far away as Texas, America.
Now, as Bella is moved out of the “red area” but remains in the RVI, Vicky and partner Graeme Davison, who live in Morpeth, Northumberland, hope that by sharing their story they can raise vital funds for the Tiny Lives Trust, the charity that supports the babies and their families on the unit.
They also would like to raise awareness and debate about premature babies and the 24 week limit when a foetus officially becomes “viable.”
Sadly doctors were unable to save Bella’s twin sister Sophia, but Vicky and Graeme’s determination to get Bella home, hopefully in time for Christmas, is helping them to focus despite their grief.
“We were completely shocked to find out we were having twins, but so excited,” said Vicky, a barmaid at the Ridley Arms, Stannington.
“Everything had been going fine until one day I noticed some bleeding so I went to the hospital for a check-up.
"While I was there I went into labour and felt the need to start pushing. ‘You have to stop it,’ I shouted, ‘it’s too soon, I’m only 23 weeks,’ but my waters had broken and there was nothing they could do.”
Bella Davison
VIEW GALLERY
The twins were born by Caesaran section at Wansbeck General Hospital four months before their due date.
Bella came out breathing on her own and was taken straight to the RVI where’s she’s been ever since. But Sophia suffered complications during the birth.
“The nurse was crying as he whispered in my ear that they had done everything they could, but they couldn’t save her,” said Vicky.
“We knew we had to stay strong for Bella and from day one our focus has been to get her home. Maybe then we will have time to grieve properly.”
But the couple, both former students at King Edwards VI school in Morpeth, thought they may lose both their daughters when Bella suffered a bleed on the brain when she was one day old and doctors told them to prepare to say their goodbyes.
But thankfully, and possibly in part due to the fact that her brain is still developing, she pulled through and doctors are hopeful that no major long-term damage has been caused.
It was two weeks before Vicky, who turned 30 last week, could hold Bella for the first time.
“It was extremely frightening, she was so tiny, her skin was transparent and I had to make sure I kept the ventilators straight in her little mouth. She felt as if she weighed nothing, but it was the best day of my life.
“The hardest thing was having to leave her there, but now we have got in a routine and go back to visit her every day. We had one day off in the first 10 weeks when we didn’t go.
“It’s much better now she is out of the incubator and off the red unit, where the most poorly babies stay. We can help with her care and do her feeds.
“She is just our miracle. On paper she is not ‘viable’, but she’s living, breathing proof that babies can survive from 23 weeks. I am so thankful that the doctors gave her a chance.”
Born at just 23 weeks Bella Davison is her parents’ little miracle.
When she first entered the world, aged a week before the legal abortion limit, Bella weighed just over 1lb.
At 11 weeks she has more than quadrupled in size.
And her amazing journey, that should be taking place inside the womb as her due date is not until November 12, has prompted her mum Vicky Jackson to call for the abortion limit to be lowered.
Vicky told the Newcastle Chronicle : “I think the abortion limit should be significantly lowered to 10 weeks unless there is a medical reason as to why it’s later.
“Bella is living proof that babies can survive at 23 weeks old. Perhaps 10 years ago it was completely different because there was not the medical advances that there are now to keep such premature babies alive, but things have moved on.
“I know people whose babies were born at 23 weeks and their children are now going to school, so it shows that in this day and age babies can survive.”
Bella’s plight has attracted followers from around the world, after her mum started a blog about her daughter’s brave fight for life.
Bella DavisonProud: Bella Davison and her parents
Vicky’s regular Facebook posts about her Beautiful Bella and life on the Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU) at Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary was started initially to give family and friends daily updates on her daughter’s condition as her life hung in the balance.
But they have gathered more and more followers, with messages of support coming from as far away as Texas, America.
Now, as Bella is moved out of the “red area” but remains in the RVI, Vicky and partner Graeme Davison, who live in Morpeth, Northumberland, hope that by sharing their story they can raise vital funds for the Tiny Lives Trust, the charity that supports the babies and their families on the unit.
They also would like to raise awareness and debate about premature babies and the 24 week limit when a foetus officially becomes “viable.”
Sadly doctors were unable to save Bella’s twin sister Sophia, but Vicky and Graeme’s determination to get Bella home, hopefully in time for Christmas, is helping them to focus despite their grief.
“We were completely shocked to find out we were having twins, but so excited,” said Vicky, a barmaid at the Ridley Arms, Stannington.
“Everything had been going fine until one day I noticed some bleeding so I went to the hospital for a check-up.
"While I was there I went into labour and felt the need to start pushing. ‘You have to stop it,’ I shouted, ‘it’s too soon, I’m only 23 weeks,’ but my waters had broken and there was nothing they could do.”
Bella Davison
VIEW GALLERY
The twins were born by Caesaran section at Wansbeck General Hospital four months before their due date.
Bella came out breathing on her own and was taken straight to the RVI where’s she’s been ever since. But Sophia suffered complications during the birth.
“The nurse was crying as he whispered in my ear that they had done everything they could, but they couldn’t save her,” said Vicky.
“We knew we had to stay strong for Bella and from day one our focus has been to get her home. Maybe then we will have time to grieve properly.”
But the couple, both former students at King Edwards VI school in Morpeth, thought they may lose both their daughters when Bella suffered a bleed on the brain when she was one day old and doctors told them to prepare to say their goodbyes.
But thankfully, and possibly in part due to the fact that her brain is still developing, she pulled through and doctors are hopeful that no major long-term damage has been caused.
It was two weeks before Vicky, who turned 30 last week, could hold Bella for the first time.
“It was extremely frightening, she was so tiny, her skin was transparent and I had to make sure I kept the ventilators straight in her little mouth. She felt as if she weighed nothing, but it was the best day of my life.
“The hardest thing was having to leave her there, but now we have got in a routine and go back to visit her every day. We had one day off in the first 10 weeks when we didn’t go.
“It’s much better now she is out of the incubator and off the red unit, where the most poorly babies stay. We can help with her care and do her feeds.
“She is just our miracle. On paper she is not ‘viable’, but she’s living, breathing proof that babies can survive from 23 weeks. I am so thankful that the doctors gave her a chance.”
