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Mother of twins ‘eternally grateful’ for Sheffield maternity unit

Amanda Glastonbury, 31 from Doncaster, and her partner Andrew Unwin have praised the maternity teams at the Jessop Wing in Sheffield following the birth of their twins, Leo and Jaxson.

Amanda was referred to the Feto Maternal Unit at the Jessop Wing, a specialist regional referral centre that cares for high-risk pregnancies, in January 2022 after an anomaly scan caused concern that one of the twins could have a rare genetic disorder.

Following more scans it was confirmed that one of the twins did unfortunately have Bilateral Renal Agenesis which means that the baby will usually only live for a few hours after birth. Amanda said,

“You can never be prepared for news like that, but I knew what was coming at least and the doctors, midwives and reception staff were all amazing. From the very first scan I had, the team were absolutely fantastic and really are a credit to the Trust.”

Amanda continued to have scans at the Jessop Wing every three weeks to closely monitor her pregnancy and the twin’s development and was scheduled for a planned caesarean. This however quickly changed when Amanda went into spontaneous pre-term labour at only 33 weeks.

Amanda arrived at the Jessop Wing and was given steroid injections to help Jaxson’s lungs develop more quickly. She stayed on the labour ward until Monday morning.

“Everyone on the labour ward was brilliant. They kept an eye on me whilst the steroids had chance to work and give Jaxson the best possible chance of survival. On Monday I requested if one of the consultants from Feto Maternal, Dr Emma Ferriman, could come up to do the caesarean, as I had seen her for a couple of scans previously and there was something about the way that she cared that made me feel so at ease.”

“Emma was apparently meant to be in a meeting elsewhere but within 10 minutes she was in my room and was already helping to calm me down. As soon as I saw her, I burst out crying.”

Dr Ferriman, examined Amanda and advised that she needed to have a caesarean.

“My partner Andrew had just gone back to Doncaster to get supplies as we thought we might be in the hospital for a while longer. I knew that I couldn’t do it without him but was worried that he wouldn’t make it back in time. The team were so patient while he rushed back and really made what could have been a stressful time, so calm.

“The neonatal team were also incredible, especially Tamana Williams who went above and beyond and came to see me several times to help explain what might happen. Although they couldn’t guarantee what would happen with Jaxson, they knew what would happen with Leo and helped prepare me for that.”

Following the caesarean, Amanda and Andrew were given time with Jaxson before he was taken to the Neonatal Unit for intensive care. Sadly Leo passed away shortly after birth.

“The team took us back to our room on the labour ward and gave us two beautiful hours with Leo before he passed. They didn’t rush us at all and let us take our time with him. Sarah and Kerry from the bereavement team were absolutely brilliant and really did make all the difference with regards to what happened with our little Leo. As difficult as that was, it was a massive help and relief that the team were so accommodating. They really took the stress out of what was a horrible situation.”

Jaxson remained in special care until he was strong enough to be transferred back to Doncaster with Amanda.

“Jaxson is really flourishing, and I really don't think that would have been possible without the love and care he received at Jessops. Emma is an absolutely brilliant surgeon, Consultant and human and I am eternally grateful to her and the team. To say that this incredible lady helped me during what was the worst/best time of my life is an understatement and I really cannot thank the hospital and the teams enough for being so caring and compassionate.”

ENDS

Photos: Jaxson at the Jessop Wing and Jaxson recently at home