A baby girl has survived being born at 23 weeks of her mother’s pregnancy. She arrived well ahead of schedule on 29 December 2008 weighing just 1lb 7oz and was so small that she could fit in the palm of her father's hand. The baby was kept in intensive care but only needed a ventilator for four weeks.
Initially, it was thought that the baby, Jessica Hawkins, had miscarried, but a scan showed her heart was beating. Today, six months after her birth, Jessica has beaten the odds by growing into a healthy baby girl. She weighs a healthy 9lb 11oz, has passed all her sight and hearing tests and is beginning to show interest in objects and toys like any normal child. The only difference is she is the size of a six-week-old, not a six-month-old baby.
Her mother Sam, 35, a child-care assessor, said:
'She has amazed us and all the hospital staff who have seen her. She has just done brilliantly and didn't even need oxygen when she came home which we were very surprised about. We couldn't take our eyes off her and are still in disbelief every day that she's actually ours.’
Mr Hawkins, an administrator with Bedfordshire Police, added:
‘We knew that if we got to 24 weeks then we would have a chance. But it was touch and go when Jessica was born. When I first saw her in the incubator I broke down because there were so many tubes and everything.’
In the past, Mrs Hawkins and her husband Pete, 44, had a very difficult time with pregnancies with the couple losing five children to miscarriages, including one at 19 weeks and one at 20 weeks. Finally, they were told it was 'highly unlikely' they would have children.
In May 2009, Parliament voted against cutting the upper limit for abortion from 24 weeks to 20 weeks. Jessica Hawkins’ remarkable story of survival may reignite the debate. Both her parents said they are confident that the limit should be lowered.
Nadine Dorries, Mid Bedfordshire MP and a former nurse, who was behind the campaign to change the law, said:
'It's when I hold babies like Jessica and talk to parents just like Sam and hear their stories, that my determination is renewed.
'As the law stands, babies just like Jessica are aborted every day and they are mainly healthy babies aborted for social reasons – not because the baby was poorly, as in Jessica's case. Jessica's wonderful life may be a reason why one day others will be saved.
'I wish Jessica and her family well. She is a testament to how far medical science has advanced in neonatal care and she will be a valuable source of reference for the future.’
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