WHEN Jemma Milligan was about to be put under for an emergency caesarian section, the last words she heard were: “We have five minutes to get this child out.”

After 18 hours in labour it was the final option, and one that thankfully worked out as her son, William Milligan, was born at 12.40am on July 9, in the South West Acute Hospital during the height of the Coronavirus pandemic.

However, as Jemma recovered from her caesarian section in the maternity ward, midwives who were helping to care for William noticed there was something not quite right when he was feeding, explained Jemma, who lives in Ederney.

“The midwives were coming in and out and were feeding him because I had had a [caesarian] section and I couldn’t get up.

“Then they noticed he was going a funny colour whenever they were feeding him. He was going a dusky grey colour. They hooked up monitors when he was feeding and they noticed that his heartrate was spiking and his oxygen levels were dropping.

“The next day it happened whenever I was feeding William, and they took him down to the neonatal unit. He was there from Friday, July 10 and I got him out the following Friday,” she said

While down in neonatal, William was looked after by the midwives, who Jemma was full of praise and admiration for as, with Covid-19 restrictions, there was limited time for her and her husband, William Snr., to visit together.

“Before I got discharged from the maternity unit I could be down there any time from 11am-7pm, but William [Snr.] had to book.

Discharged

“We could be in together for one hour and then once it was up one of us had to leave. Then whenever I was discharged from the maternity unit and because I couldn’t drive, we could only get one hour together to see him.

“The midwives were amazing. They couldn’t do enough, because they were basically his mother for the first week.

“I could ring up any time and ask them how he was doing. I would ring every morning and they would tell me what he was at, and they were able to see a change in him even after a couple of days because he didn’t cry when he was born.

“It was day five before he cried, and they told me all that sort of stuff.

“I stayed overnight before he got out so they could teach me and I could get used to him, because I had to learn everything as I didn’t really know him.

“They had to teach me how to change his nappy in the incubator with feeding tubes. They were amazing – even with [the] Covid [restrictions] they were so, so good.”

It was during one visit that Jemma noticed a blanket that William was lying on and she asked about the blankets. That’s how she came up with a way of showing her appreciation for the fantastic work the nurses and doctors do in the neonatal unit.

“I just happened to ask one of the nurses ‘How did you get the blankets?’ because I thought if I could do his cot up at home the same way it was in the neonatal unit, he would be more comfortable.

“She said: ‘People make these for us’. Then I said it to my mum, and it all spiralled out of that.”

Knitting

Jemma, her mother, Gwen Crozier, and her mother’s friend, Valerie Wilson, have been knitting blankets to donate to the unit that took such good care of William.

The 10-week-old is now at home and has met his big sister, Ella-May, who was delighted to meet her baby brother.

“We are delighted to have him home. When I got discharged the week before, his sister started crying because I didn’t bring him home from hospital, and she wouldn’t talk to me for a couple of hours.

“When we got him home, she started crying and was all emotional and so excited to see him. It was really good,” added Jemma.

The brilliant work of the doctors and nurses in the neonatal unit found that William had severe silent reflux and an allergy to cow’s milk protein, and Jemma and her family will be forever grateful.