The baby they said would never be born (3 months into pregnancy, Dr's said baby was dead)

The Sunderland Echo (U.K.) ^ | June 28, 2008

[Stoat]

The baby they said would never be born

 

 

 

 

SO SPECIAL: Catherine Kent and Kevin Gray with baby Leona-Lee.

Proud parents Kevin Gray and Catherine Kent cradle the daughter they were told would never be born.

Three months into Catherine's pregnancy, doctors told the 27-year-old that her baby had died inside her.

Turning down surgical treatment to remove the baby, she spent a month carrying what she believed was a dead child until a check-up at Sunderland Royal Hospital revealed a mistake had been made and her baby was alive.

Six months after the devastating news, Leona-Lee Gray defied medics when she was born weighing a healthy 6lb 9oz.

And the Houghton couple say their new-born bundle of joy
– pictured – is all the more special because they thought they had lost her forever.

Kevin, 28, said: "The baby is just champion. She is healthy as anything. We were so happy when she was born. We love our kids to bits.

"But because we thought for a while that the baby had died it made the pregnancy a hundred times worse because of the stress. We are so protective of her."

The couple are urging other parents not to give up hope.

"A couple of years ago Catherine was told she had a miscarriage and we had that baby removed. Now we wonder if it could have been alive too," said Kevin.

"I would say to people 'don't give up, get a second opinion.' We want everything out in the open so people know it can happen."

A week after being born by emergency Caesarean at Sunderland Royal, Leona-Lee is back at home at Moore Crescent South, Houghton.

Dad says the new addition is the spitting image of big sister Chanelle, seven.

Brother Kane, four, is also excited by the new arrival.

After Catherine's three-month scan the couple were told they could choose drugs and surgical treatment to remove the baby. Now they say they dread to think what could have happened.

Kevin said: "When we went back to the hospital and they said the baby was alive we just broke down. We couldn't believe it. We worried about her all the time."

City Hospitals Sunderland NHS Trust has launched an inquiry into the matter.

[Stoat]

The couple are urging other parents not to give up hope.

"A couple of years ago Catherine was told she had a miscarriage and we had that baby removed. Now we wonder if it could have been alive too," said Kevin.

"I would say to people 'don't give up, get a second opinion.' We want everything out in the open so people know it can happen."

[Stoat]

Proud parents Catherine Kent and Kevin Gray are overjoyed with their newborn daughter Leona-Lee after doctors misdiagnosed a miscarriage

[AnAmericanMother]

Ain't socialized medicine grand?

Probably the fetal monitor was broken or somebody forgot to change the battery (or turn the darned thing on.)

[SuziQ]

What a blessing that they didn’t act on what they were told! So glad to hear the baby is doing well.

[Cheapskate]

Or mabye the doc decided that the baby would just grow up
to be a “Useless Eater” and needed to be culled!

[Mamzelle]

Well, ultrasounds are generally how this is diagnosed, and usually several personnel are involved. I'd like to hear a few more facts. I prefer to believe that the mistake would have been rectified before the DNC. It is common between "demise" and DNC to wait a few days.

[Carley]

Can happen here too. A friend was told something was terribly wrong with her baby following some tests.

After the initial shock she went to another doctor who detected twins, who are now three years old and just perfectly healthy.

[allmost]

The bureaucrat in charge thought the child didn’t deserve to live. Too much paperwork...

[Gabz]

MOM Ping..........

What a GREAT story.

[Stoat]

A little bit more on the story here:

Pictured Mother told by doctor she'd miscarried proudly shows off her healthy newborn baby News This is London

Newborn Leona-Lee is lucky to be alive

 

'What if I had taken the tablets they offered me?' said Catherine. 'They could have left my baby severely disabled, or it could have died?

'They could've aborted my baby while it was alive. How can the hospital make a mistake like that?

'How many other people have taken the tablets or had an abortion when their baby was alive all the time?

'The nurse should have got another doctor to check me properly after the first ultrasound scan.

'You can't just rule a baby’s life out without getting it double-checked.'

She said she suffered depression in the weeks after being told that her baby was dead and even contemplated suicide.

[Stoat]

What a GREAT story.

I'm delighted that you've found it to be worthwhile  :-)

Thank you very much for pinging your list  :-)

[Gabz]

You’re very welcome, and thank YOU for bringing it to my attention.

[tioga]

an example of socialized medicine? what a horrid thing to go through....God bless this little girl.

[samiam1972]

“A couple of years ago Catherine was told she had a miscarriage and we had that baby removed. Now we wonder if it could have been alive too,” said Kevin.

My husband and I went through a similar experience. My babies like to hide from the nurses early in my pregnancies. I had a D & C with one of my miscarriages that, to this day, I still wonder if it wasn’t a mistake. I pray for that baby all the time and am still heartbroken about it. I know more now and would do things a little different if put in that situation again.

[CatherinePPP]

What a beautiful story. Thanks for sharing it, and continued blessings to this family.

[TheBattman]

From all these reports, it would appear that UK doctors will use any excuse to do abortions... from telling women who have perfectly healthy babies that they are hopelessly defective, to the baby is dead...

[EDINVA]

I was told early in my 2nd pregnancy that I’d had a miscarriage. It is very depressing. THen some other tests seemed to say I might have a tubal pregnancy. Ultimately, they came to the conclusion that not only had I not miscarried, but 6 months later gave birth to twins. Talk about an emotional roller coaster!

[MHGinTN]

‘Sinator’ Boxer says the unborn are not real people until they are taken home. Until then they can be culled as the supreme, goddess-like choice. Democrats think like that, really! Barry Obama thinks like that, and lieberals and black people love him. That’s the true state of America don’tchaknow.

[AnAmericanMother]

That's what second opinions are for -- definitely indicated if somebody has diagnosed death or severe birth defect.

I'm not sure you can GET a second opinion under the jolly old National Health Service.

The thing that I noticed the most when I was in a NHS clinic in Scotland was how antiquated all the equipment was. They had an X-ray machine that looked like something out of a silent horror movie.

[secret garden]

The procedure is called a D and C(dilation and curettage), not DNC.