Kirsty & Tony are fundraising in memory of our darling son Teddy for Little Heartbeats.

I suffered from EPPROM (extremely preterm premature rupture of membranes or waters breaking) at 20+2 weeks of pregnancy and was rushed to Labour ward on the pretence that I would be imminently delivering our baby who wouldn’t survive.

After frantic google searches we came across Little Heartbeats, a charity set up to support parents who are currently going through PPROM or have lost babies to PPROM. They helped to educate us that babies can survive PPROM, even at such an early gestation so all may not be lost. They supported us to become advocates for our baby & push back with confidence when we were put under continuous pressure by the obstetrics team to terminate the pregnancy. They helped us understand what medication I needed as well as other tests to help prolong my pregnancy & we connected with their Facebook support pages and other parents in very similar situations. This became a complete lifeline of support and hope which got us through the coming days and weeks.

Our sweet little baby Teddy was born extremely prematurely 17 days after the initial rupture at 22+5 weeks of pregnancy and fought bravely for a week in NICU (neonatal intensive care) Tragically Teddy eventually became too weak to continue to fight and he passed away in our arms 7 days later.

We are completely devastated by his passing and utterly heartbroken however are almost certain that if it wasn’t for Little Heartbeats there is a good chance Teddy wouldn’t of even had the chance to fight and try and wouldn’t of had the opportunity to live at all.

We are eternally grateful for their support which allowed us to become educated in how the pregnancy could be prolonged as each day gave Teddy just that little bit more chance of survival.

Little Heartbeats focus on raising awareness of PPROM, providing care packs for families going through PPROM as well as supporting families suffering from PPROM loss. They are fundraising currently to support a research project focusing on the resealing of membranes - the UKOSS PPROM research project

UKOSS Early PPROM Research study

Understanding a life-threatening pregnancy complication.

Every year in the UK, around 300 women suffer from extremely preterm pre-labour rupture of membranes (EPPROM) at less than 23 weeks into their pregnancy, which can be fatal for both her and her baby.

The baby is left without the normal protection of the amniotic fluid, which means there is a worry they could develop an infection or get injured.

Though babies can survive, some die from infection, cord prolapse, placenta abruption (when the placenta separates early from the uterus), or because labour starts when the baby is too little to survive.

Sometimes, the mother gets so unwell from an infection that her life is also at risk from sepsis and knowing the right time to deliver is vital.

Despite its huge impact on women, babies and their families, EPPROM is poorly understood. Research is limited and based on relatively small studies, and there are also no national guidelines to tell doctors how to care for women in this situation.

For example, doctors have often been told that the chance of the baby being born healthy is so poor that they should offer women a termination. However, some healthy children have been born after this condition.

New hope - A patient group called Little Heartbeats approached Professor Zarko Alfirevic's research team expressing dismay at the confusing and conflicting advice that families are being given in this harrowing situation. So, using Wellbeing of Women and Little Heartbeats' funding, Professor Alfirevic from the University of Liverpool is now looking to understand more about this pregnancy complication.

Together with the UK Obstetric Surveillance System, Professor Alfirevic’s team has developed a survey and over the course of a year all maternity hospitals in the UK will report cases of waters breaking between 16 and 23 weeks of pregnancy.

For further information on PPROM and the ongoing research project please check out Little Heartbeats website. We hope and pray that Teddy's passing will not be in vain and more will be done in the future to try to prevent PROMM and babies being born too early and dying unnecessarily.