Couple thank unit that saved their premature daughter's life

9:00am Thursday 4th September 2008

By Claire Marshall

A NEWLY-WED couple have said a heartfelt thank you to the hospital unit that treated their premature baby by forfeiting wedding gifts and asking guests to donate money to the baby unit instead.

Jenny and Ian Walkley celebrated their wedding day last week, after 17 happy years spent together, but they also celebrated having a happy healthy daughter after she was born 10 weeks early, weighing just 2lb 10oz.

They were so thankful she survived that they decided to ask guests at their wedding to donate money to the Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU) in Gloucester Royal Hospital, which provided life-saving care to their daughter Charlotte who was born at 30 weeks.

"We have so much to be thankful for," said Jenny, of The Quarry, Cam. "We thought we don’t really need any gifts so we asked guests to make a donation to SCBU if they wanted to.

"The care we received while at the unit was amazing, the nurses were fantastic, they really took care of me and the baby."

Jenny, 34, also has Gloucester hospital to thank for her life after she suffered severe pre-eclampsia, a complication in pregnancy that reduces blood flow to the placenta and can be life-threatening for the mother after the baby.

"I had a caesarean and then I didn’t see my baby until four days later," said Jenny. "The nurses would take photos of her with a Polaroid camera and write notes saying hello mummy I am doing well on them, which really keep me going."

"When Jenny gave birth and I was called into a room to see the doctor it was just the most nerve-wracking moment, I didn’t know if they were alive or dead. When he told me they were both ok I was so relived."

Charlotte, now aged 10, remained in hospital for six weeks after birth as she was very small and weak, but suffered no long term damage from her early birth.

Three years ago the couple had a second daughter, Kelsey, who was born at full term.

"It took a long time to build up the courage to do it all again, but luckily second time around the birth wasn’t so bad," added Jenny.

Jenny and Ian, a self-employed painter and decorator, married in Cirencester registry office and their guests donated over £800 to SCBU.

Ian added: "We would like to say a big thank you to everyone who donated some money to the unit, it meant a lot to us, we cannot say how thankful we are to SCBU for their care."

If you would like to find out more about the SCBU unit, or if you would like to make a donation visit their website http://www.scoo-b-doo.co.uk/.