Introducing Hamish Fox Hopkins, born 8th December, weighing 7lbs 6oz.

Hamish had a very rough start to life. He suffered a massive blood haemorrhage during delivery and was born severely anaemic, with about a third of the blood he needed. He also had complications with his respiratory system and could not breathe by himself.

As soon as he was born he was taken straight into Intensive Care, where he was given 2 blood transfusions and put on life support. We were told that he needed to be transferred via ambulance to the specialist neonatal unit at Luton and Dunstable hospital.  

Once at Luton hospital, Hamish was put in to an incubator in the Intensive Care ward. He was hooked up to machines to help his breathing, blood pressure, feeding, and was on a variety of medications. We were gratefully in a room next to his ward and were able to visit him at any hour. After 4 days, Hamish began to improve and was transferred in to the Special Care unit, where he spent another 3 days. We were finally able to cuddle our boy!

Happily, due to the incredible care he received, Hamish made a full recovery and a week after being admitted, we were able to take him home. And today we received the last test result we were waiting for – a normal MRI scan of his brain. We can now put the last 11 days behind us and look forward to Christmas as a family.

From the moment he was born to the moment we left the hospital, Colin and I were completely in awe of the care we all received from the NHS: from the midwives who showed such compassion for the fact we weren’t able to hold - or even see - our baby for the first few hours of his life, to the paediatricians at Southend hospital whose quick thinking got life support to Hamish when he was born, to the specialist ambulance team who transported him to Luton and whose kindness made our hearts ache, to the doctors and consultants at Luton, who gave us all the facts, answered all our difficult questions and whose fantastic treatment saved Hamish’s life, and lastly, to the wonderful nurses who sat by his side with us, held him, changed him, rocked him to sleep and mothered him around the clock, skipping their breaks and working over their 12 hour shifts to care for all the poorly babies on the ward. We will never, ever forget what they did for us.