Danniella was born in November 2003 and was 5 weeks premature. The circumstances were very different from my first experiences of child birth when Seb was born. Andy was away racing in Macau and I was at home in Guernsey, when I started to feel very unwell. Mum took me up to the PEH to be checked over, tests were done which showed some high levels of what was diagnosed as suspected cholestasis – an infection of the liver which can occur in pregnancy. (It was only when I left hospital that I was told that the likely cause was a form of food poisoning.)
Danniella was delivered by emergency c section and weighed in at 6lbs 6oz which was a very good weight for her age. Worryingly, her lungs hadn’t fully developed in the womb so she was given oxygen for a few days and my baby girl went on to make excellent progress and was out of the SCUB unit after eight days. Fortunately, whilst I was still in hospital, though I wasn’t able to stay with her, I was very close – just a few steps away. Andy first met his daughter on the internet but he rushed home to be with us and was there to greet her in person within 36 hours.
It was from here that we began thinking about setting up a charity to give something back to help other parents during such difficult and frightening times that no-one can fully understand unless they go through it themselves.
