On the 18th July 2020, our beautiful daughter, Cora Madeleine Sinnott, was born. 

We had a low risk and healthy pregnancy and a positive labour up until 30 minutes before she arrived. I'd always wanted a home birth and managed to labour at home for 14 hours, but after pushing for 3 hours the midwife said I still had some cervix in the way so we made the decision to head to hospital.

When we got to hospital, I was hooked up to monitors (where we were told heart rate looked normal) and given an epidural (relief!). They then started the hormone drip; this is when Cora's heart rate dropped and the room filled with people. I was rushed to theatre to have a c-section and I remember being told they'd have to put me to sleep to get her out quickly; they couldn't find a heartbeat at all by this point. 

When I finally came round after the surgery I had no baby waiting for me and I remember seeing the look on Joe's face and knowing the news was bad. The Drs told us that it took them 14 minutes to resuscitate Cora, they were amazed that her heart started again but she was a fighter. They think she'd been starved of oxygen for 18 minutes and the Neonatal Consultant told us that she would most likely die, or else be completely brain damaged and not have any quality of life. 

We were taken to see Cora; I'll never forget seeing her for the first time. She was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. Even with all the tubes attached to her, all I could see was her full head of hair, chubby arms and legs and rosebud lips. She looked perfect.

Even with Covid going on, Cora's grandparents were able to come and visit her which meant so much to us. 

On the morning of 19th July, we had a meeting with the Neonatal Consultant who was looking after Cora. We knew she had taken a turn for the worse in the night and was struggling to get enough oxygen even with support. The Dr informed us to prepare for the worst and to get our family over to spend time together asap. We made the phone calls and nipped back to our room but as I was getting out of the shower a number of people rushed in to tell us we had to go straight to Cora to say our goodbyes. 

We were so grateful that everyone did their best to keep Cora alive so we could say goodbye. They took all her tubes out so we could have a cuddle and she took her final breaths in my arms as we told her how much we loved her. We spent a special day with her and our family, washing her, dressing her, making footprints and having lots of cuddles through tears. 

We would love to show our thanks and do something positive in Cora's name. Raising money for Jessops Neonatal Ward where premature and poorly babies are looked after and cared for, like Cora was, is a cause close to our hearts.

Any money you can spare at all to donate to this fantastic unit will help other parents to meet their children and support families through such a difficult time. 

Thank you for reading Cora's story.