WARNING: Content on preterm birth and associated health complications.
A newlywed couple who spent their wedding day in a hospital’s neonatal unit at the bedside of their premature daughter — who was born weighing less than a loaf of bread — have described the emotional day as unforgettable and “very special”.
Laurelai Barlow was born at just 23 weeks and four days gestation on June 20, an age at which most babies do not survive, due to their lungs, heart and brain not yet being properly developed. The baby girl was delivered at Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, but was quickly transferred to Mater Mothers’ Hospital for life-saving, around-the-clock care.
Mum Cassidy, 22, said she’d hoped her new daughter would be there on the big day, when she wed long-term partner James last month, but being able to visit their “guest of honour” meant everything. The couple, who have an older son Kaidyn, 2, tied the knot at Brisbane’s New Farm Park.
‘Very special day’ for newlyweds
“It was very special. “We were all dressed up in our wedding attire and to be there in the neonatal unit with Laurelai was memorable,” Cassidy said of her November 23 wedding.
“I was so hopeful she would be there with us on the day – it was upsetting being at the ceremony without her, but she was where she needed to be. We wanted to make sure our miracle baby was part of our big day, so we made a special trip to Queensland Children’s Hospital where she was being cared for.”
Laurelai given slim chance of survival
Being born four months premature, mum Cassidy — from Petrie in the Moreton Bay region — said she was told the outlook wasn’t good for Laurelai, who was delivered three years after the family lost a baby girl named Delylah to stillbirth at 25 weeks.
Laurelai weighed a tiny 637 grams at birth, but Barlow said she knew her daughter was a fighter, and “never gave up”. “Doctors had given Laurelai little chance of survival when she was born. I look at her now and she is kicking goals,” she said.
“I remember the first time I held her; it was 16 days after she was born. She had all these tubes and wires coming out of her, I thought I might break her.” Now almost six months old, Laurelai has been transferred to Queensland Children’s Hospital. She’s undergone three major surgeries, including one on her bowel, during her short life.
Queensland mum hopeful of future
As of December, Laurelai weighs a healthy 4.2 kilograms — although she remains on oxygen to help her breathe and suffers from retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), an eye disease that can occur in babies who are born premature.
“I’ve been in and out of hospital with bleeding since I was nine weeks pregnant,” Cassidy said. “It was constant. My waters ruptured at 20 weeks and six days. Having Laurelai has been a rollercoaster of emotions.”
Mater Neonatologist Dr Luke Jardine said it took a huge effort to care for Laurelai during the early days of her life. “The care for Laurelai was a big team effort,” Dr Jardine said, adding that when waters break at 20 weeks gestation, a baby has a survival rate between 20 to 40 percent. “Babies born at 23 weeks have about a 55 per cent chance of survival,” he explained.
Each year around 2000 sick or premature babies receive care from the multidisciplinary clinical team at Mater Mothers’ Neonatal Critical Care Unit.
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