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Oxygen deprivation at birth

Nick and Margaret’s son Mark was born on the 14 July 1990. As Margaret went into labour her thyroid gland ruptured, causing her and Mark to be without oxygen for over an hour. Here, Nick and Margaret share their story.

“I didn’t do pregnancy well,” explains Margaret. “I suffered very badly from morning sickness and false labours and during my pregnancy with Mark I had difficulty breathing, which the doctors told me was because of asthma.”

“Mark was born the day after my 28 birthday,” says Nick. “I was upstairs and heard Margaret shouting to me that she couldn’t breathe. I managed to get her into the car in order to take her to the local doctors.”

“I got into the car,” says Margaret, “and suddenly everything started going dark, down to a pinprick.”

“When we got to the doctors,” continues Nick, “I rushed in to get someone and the duty nurse ran out carrying oxygen and called an ambulance. We waited about 15 minutes for it to arrive. The ambulance took us to hospital where we were greeted by a crash team, who were told that Margaret suffered from asthma. Mark was delivered by emergency caesarean but he had been without oxygen by this point for over an hour.

As more time passed the doctors realised it wasn’t asthma that had caused Margaret to stop breathing but in fact that her thyroid gland had ruptured, causing a bleed into her airway. She was rushed for a tracheostomy and taken to intensive care. I flitted between being with her and being with Mark.”

Baby Mark looked perfect

“Coming round was like swimming to the top of muddy water. I felt my stomach, baby gone,” explains Margaret.

Nick continues, “We were told that Mark had been fitting and that because of the oxygen deprivation, that it was almost certain he would have brain damage. You wouldn’t believe it if you saw him because he was so perfect in every single way. Being born at full term he was a particularly long baby who looked healthy and well, with a shock of bright red hair.”

“We were taken to a private room to talk to the paediatrician,” adds Margaret. “He told us that after the scans, blood tests and investigations, they had found Mark’s cerebral cortex so damaged that it was unlikely that he would ever leave the hospital and that he would be deaf and blind.”

“At first we thought that a life, even with brain damage, would be better than no life at all but Mark would never be able to come off a ventilator,” explains Nick. “We decided to let nature take its course.

On the 17 July, I was taken to a room to spend the last moments with Mark. Margaret was brought to the room in a wheelchair and I handed her Mark.”

“At first I didn’t want to see him,” says Margaret “but when I decided to, the nurses sprung into action and I was soon whizzing along the corridors to the Special Care Baby Unit. I held Mark in my arms as he made a mewling cry and shortly afterwards he died.”

Saying goodbye

“The day of the funeral, I can remember the little white coffin and wanting to rush up and take him out. The hospital chaplain held the service and made a very good point that although Mark was only a few days old when he died, we had known him for nine months. Sitting in the garden of remembrance I couldn’t understand how the weather could be so sunny when I felt so grey and bleak inside.”

Nick explains that, “Our daughter Christy who was 18 months at the time had been looking forward to the arrival of her new baby brother. I took her to see Mark at the hospital and when he died she grieved in her own way by throwing all her dolls away. It really affected her despite being so young.

Every year as a family we go to visit the cemetery on Mark’s birthday. We go with Christy and our younger son, Adam who is 19.

When Margaret became pregnant with Adam the consultant advised that they would fully be in control of this birth. It was agreed that he would be born by caesarean which was incredibly lucky as he was born with the cord around his neck. Thankfully because of the consultant, it was as trauma free as it could have been.”

Medical research brings us hope

“Margaret and I came across Sparks when Margaret found an article about Sparks and the cooling treatment being funded by them for babies born with brain damage during labour. It was extraordinary to see the changes that had been made since Mark was born, and as a result of the research into brain cooling techniques, if he was born today, his chances of survival would probably be so much higher than they were 22 years ago.

The research that Sparks fund is just absolutely incredible and it has helped us see that there is always hope, and always breakthroughs in medical research. Whilst it wasn’t around in time for Mark, the work Sparks has done has been able to save many lives since.”