Miracle Baby, Whose Mum Was Told To Abort Her 'Non-Viable' Son, Celebrates His First Birthday

Miracle Baby, Whose Mum Was Told To Abort Her 'Non-Viable' Son, Celebrates His First Birthday
SWNS

Born weighing just 1.4lbs, baby Jett Morris weighed less than a bag of sugar and was smaller than his dad's hand.

But Jett's parents were simply relieved he was alive, after being told their baby would never survive and they should abort him.

When his mother Mhairi's waters broke at 20 weeks - a pregnancy is usually around 40 weeks - doctors advised the pregnancy was 'non-viable' and she should have a termination.

But she and husband Paul defied doctors' advice - and believe had it not been for their determination, Jett would not be here today.

SWNS

Jett was born prematurely at 25 weeks weighing just 1.4lbs - having survived for five weeks in the womb after his mother's waters broke.

But his parents say that before his birth, they were constantly pressured by medics at East Surrey Hospital to end the pregnancy.

Mhairi, 34, who runs a children's clothing shop with her 36-year-old husband, said: "They didn't see him as a child yet, they just called him a 'non-viable foetus'.

"But I'd just had a 20 week scan and everything was perfect and finding out it was a boy made it very hard to accept a termination.

"The doctor said: "You have to have a termination because there's nothing we can do".'

She added: "I understand doctors have to tell you the worst case scenario and be blunt, but no two people on this earth are exactly the same and doctors didn't even give Jett a chance.

"When he came back in and Paul and I had talked we told him I wouldn't be going into theatre and the doctor looked at his watch and rolled his eyes at me, as if I was wasting time."

Mrs Morris suffered preterm premature rupture of membranes - where the waters break before the pregnancy reaches full term.

She was later diagnosed with placenta previa - where the placenta forms underneath the baby and can cause bleeding and infection.

She was told she was likely to go into labour within 48 hours and the baby would die. But days later she still hadn't given birth and was allowed to go home to Crawley, West Sussex. Twelve days later she started bleeding and was rushed to hospital. But with the local trust only equipped to deal with children born after 28 weeks, the couple had to travel 80 miles to a hospital in Portsmouth.

Doctors there warned their son could be brain damaged and would probably die at birth because his lungs would not be developed.

However, Jett defied the odds and came out kicking and wriggling on December 6, 2013 - and even let out a small 'squeak' before being rushed to an incubator.

He was suffering with chronic lung disease and jaundice - which he quickly recovered from after his lungs and organs developed.

He was finally allowed home on March 5 - almost three weeks before his original due date of March 24.

Though Jett has two small holes in his heart it is not thought they will ever cause a problem for him and and he was taken off an oxygen machine in May. He is now thriving and recently celebrated his first birthday.

Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust's Chief Executive Michael Wilson said: "From June 2013, while Mhairi was with us, it's our opinion that she received high quality clinical care and was provided with information about the range of options available to her in her circumstances, as well as having these options discussed in detail.

"The team who cared for her pulled out all stops to keep both her and her child safe throughout her high-risk pregnancy and following this, we transferred her to a more specialist hospital so that she received the best possible care for her condition.

"We are delighted that over a year on, both mother and son are healthy and well.

"As a Trust, we strive to learn from all the feedback we receive from our patients to continually improve our service.

"We have only very recently learned of her concerns as no complaints were raised earlier - had they been, we would have been in touch with her directly and looked into what had taken place.

"We are now working closely with her and her family to understand what happened in detail."

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