Natasha's Story

Sam Harman's story

Teacher Sam Harman was just 26 weeks pregnant when she went into labour with her son, Harry. This is her story... 

"It was July 2005, the week before the school summer holidays, and I was at work. We had our parents' day and I had a stomach ache that lasted all day. As Harry wasn't due until October I wasn't really concerned about it, but I thought I'd better get it checked. The GP thought I was worrying over nothing but said I should go to the hospital just in case. When I got to hospital, they found my cervix had already opened about four centimetres and I was in active labour! They gave me drugs for 24 hours to try to stop the contractions, but as soon as the drugs wore off the contractions started coming really strong. My baby was on the way and there was nothing anyone could do to stop him! I had gone into hospital on the Monday and I had Harry early Thursday morning.

"It was a massive shock. In your mind, you have it all planned that you're going to have a perfect little baby, have your cuddle with him straight away and do your bonding and everything, but obviously when they're that premature they just get whipped away into special care. I then quickly had to face the horrible realisation that my baby was sick and might not survive. It was also kind of surreal: when he was born, Harry looked like this tiny, hairless, pink bird, all plucked and ill!

"Harry was just nine days old when he was transferred to another hospital, where he was put on an oscillating ventilator. He was on life support for six weeks. He had to undergo heart surgery as well as have numerous blood transfusions and take a cocktail of drugs every day. Fortunately, Harry gradually responded to the absolutely first-class care he was given.

"I don't know how my partner Stephen and I made it through those early days, but we really supported each other. One of the difficult things you face is that no one can tell you anything definite - things can change so quickly and no one can give you any guarantees about whether your baby will survive or not.

"Harry was in hospital for four months, so we were still there on his due date. When we finally were allowed to take him  home we had to take some oxygen cylinders for him to use for the first few weeks, because his lungs were so bad. His first days at home were really scary, because you're used to having 24-hour medical support and then you find yourself off all the time! That was difficult.

"Today, Harry is doing great. He's 17 months old. He's small for his age and he hasn't got particularly great lungs, but he's crawling around like a trooper, trying to walk. He's so good natured -- I think he's been well trained by his lengthy stay in hospital! He's absolutely the best thing that's ever happened to us.

"We feel very lucky to have Harry, especially because we met other people in hospital who lost their babies. While Harry was in special care I became friends with a lady whose baby was born at about the same gestation as Harry but was much smaller due to her mother's pre-eclampsia. That baby had an enormously tough time. Like Harry, she had to have heart surgery and was slow at putting weight on. But whereas Harry took off in the right direction at some point, the other baby stayed where she was. The baby was still only eight pounds when she passed away, several months later. That was absolutely heartbreaking, because her mother had been so supportive to everyone else.

"I started supporting Tommy's after Harry was born. I was looking up organisations for advice, and I found the Tommy's website was really helpful. It was great to find that information out there.

"I'm pleased that Tommy's will be launching a campaign to help stop premature birth, because I don't think people realise what a problem premature birth is. I feel the biggest misconception about premature birth - and I thought this myself when I had Harry - is that people don't realise how dangerous it really is. You constantly read in the media that people have 24-week-old babies and they're fine, but, sadly, a lot of premature babies don't make it. So I think Tommy's work to prevent premature birth is very important."

Your pregnancy story

If you have been touched by Sam's story, and would like to share your pregnancy story with others, please let us know.

You can call Kristy on 0207 398 3440 to find out more, or you could email her at kmacleod@tommys.org.