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We owe everything to the hospital for saving our babies’ lives

When Tayla was admitted to hospital at 26 weeks, it was the beginning of what would be a long journey.

This is Tayla’s story:

Our beautiful twins were born at 26+4 weeks in September 2021. 

I went in for a routine growth scan at 26+2 and they discovered my girl twin had restricted blood flow and IGUR. I was sent straight to fetal medicine and given a steroid shot to prep the twins’ lungs ‘just in case delivery was needed’. I was then sent home and told to come back the next day and to bring my husband along to meet with the obstetrician and to have another scan.

The next day came and we were anxiously watching the screen during the ultrasound as the doctor explained that our girl twin had deteriorated even further than yesterday’s scan, that her placenta was covered in blood clots, and I was bleeding internally. I was told to go home and back my bags as I would be staying in hospital indefinitely until I delivered.

Praying for an improvement

The next day I had a third scan. There was silence in the room during the scan and I could hear my heart beating through my chest, praying that somehow overnight everything fixed itself and this was all just a bad dream. Unfortunately, it wasn’t. The obstetrician turned to me and said, “Please phone your husband and tell him to get to the hospital asap. We’re delivering these babies today!“ 

Ella and Jackson were born later that evening at The Mercy Hospital by emergency c-section. Ella weighed 784g and Jackson weighed 1kg. Ella was born not breathing and placed on a ventilator. Jackson was born letting out a quiet little cry and went straight onto CPAP and was rushed to the NICU. 

2 days in, Jackson came down with pneumothorax and needed to be placed on ventilation and a jet machine for 2 weeks. Then, just after Jackson became well, Ella became very sick with suspected NEC and was treated with a high dose of antibiotics for 7 days, requiring her ventilation needs to go up significantly. Ella also suffered from ROP and was transferred to the Royal Children’s Hospital. She spent 3 long weeks in the Butterfly Ward from suffering respiratory failure post-extubation after surgery. The respiratory failure resulted in 4 minutes of CPR after which she came down with a nasty infection and was re-intubated for 9 days. 

Coming home

105 days later, Jackson came home on low flow oxygen and Ella soon followed, after 124 days. 

We’re forever grateful and owe everything to the Mercy Hospital and Royal Children’s Hospital for saving our babies’ lives. Without their hard work our twins may have had a very different outcome.


Share your story

Have you found comfort in reading other parents’ stories? We get lots of grateful feedback on how reading these personal stories help new parents to cope with their own experience. Every family has a unique and important story to share. Share your journey and celebrate your story below.


Belinda Algie

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