Mum Films Touching Documentary Thanking NHS For Saving Her Newborn's Life

Mum Films Touching Documentary Thanking NHS For Saving Newborn's Life

On 2 February, Sophie Mei Lan Slack gave birth to her second child Arianna. Two months later, her baby girl was hooked up to a ventilator, critically ill.

"I was preparing for the worst," says mum-of-two, Sophie.

"She stopped breathing and blood was coming out of her nose. Thank God, for the ambulance crew to arrive so fast and for the two guys that helped me with her.

"She'd gone grey and lifeless in my arms. I think I cried so much I haven't got any tears left."

At first, doctors couldn't understand why Arianna had stopped breathing, and why she was bleeding from her nose and mouth.

"They thought I'd suffocated her by accident with my sling," explained Sophie. "We'd just been walking to an art workshop when she fell lifeless and grey.

"We were having a normal day and suddenly I was covered in blood and carrying a lifeless baby."

Baby Arianna in hospital

Tests eventually revealed the cause of Arianna's sudden decline in health - she'd contracted flu and pneumonia, which had developed into septicaemia.

After receiving a life-saving blood transfusion, Arianna was slowly nursed back to health.

"Thankfully, day by day, somehow the doctors and nurses managed to love my little Arianna back to life," Sophie said.

Arianna has since returned home, however her mother revealed that she still gets incredibly worried about her daughter. After her first checkup, Sophie explained how her baby's mouth started bleeding when they returned home.

"I think she'd just cut it on something, but I thought I was back there again," said Sophie. "I just wanted to take her to Accident & Emergency. It's a hard balance between being over protective and also not doing enough.

"I feel like all my motherly instincts are wrong now, because I didn't realise how ill she was."

Realising that Sophie felt herself to blame, doctors wrote her a heartwarming letter saying that it wasn't her fault.

Sophie and her daughter Arianna have since returned home

They also sent another letter to give her peace of mind in which they said her baby was fully recovered.

The doting mother has since made a documentary about her experience for BBC RAW, in which she thanks the NHS profusely for saving her daughter's life.

"We are so thankful to the NHS, because if it wasn't for our healthcare system I'm pretty sure my baby would be dead," she said.

"Those doctors and nurses that treated us were just the most amazing people. And not only that, the treatment she had cost tens of thousands of pounds, but we didn't even have to worry about that. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

She added: "The main thing is I have a living daughter and I'm able to be back home with both my daughters. They're both alive and they're both as well as we could ask."

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