A mum has said she and her partner have been left ‘completely heartbroken’ after the sudden loss of their son. Sophy Keeton says her life, and the life of her partner Ben Smith, ‘changed forever’ in June this year when she was told their baby boy Freddie ‘was not compatible with life.’
Sophy was 18 weeks pregnant and was facing going into early labour with Freddie when she was given the earth-shattering news. During a scan, doctors discovered Freddie’s kidneys were larger than they should have been and medics asked Sophy to return to the Fetal Medicine Unit a week later.
“We did not know how to feel but we were praying for some good news,” Sophy said. Sophy, 29, and Ben, who are both from Doncaster, attended the scan a week later and the appointment ‘took five minutes.’
“I knew it was bad news at that point,” she said. “They explained that Freddie’s kidneys were not functioning and that he had no bladder. We received the diagnosis of bilateral multicystic dysplastic kidneys (MCDK) and absent bladder, along with oligohydramnios - which meant his lungs could never develop properly.
“We were informed that once Freddie was born at full-term, he would live no longer than 24 hours and would be in pain and discomfort.” Sophy said she ‘completely broke down’ after being given the news.
“My partner, Ben, was trying to take in the information but we were both just distraught. I can’t put into words how painful it is to hear that your baby is not going to survive. If the condition only affected one kidney he could have lived a perfectly normal life. But it is extremely rare for it to affect both. He was depending on me for absolutely everything.”
Sophy and Ben, 22, were told they could continue with the pregnancy or choose to end it prematurely in order to prevent Freddie from suffering, according to Yorkshire Live. “There was nothing we could do to save our boy as there is no current treatment and no way he could survive with no working kidneys,” said Sophy. “We had to make the difficult decision to end the pregnancy as this was the kindest option for both Freddie and myself.”
Freddie was born at 3pm on June 19, just a few days after Sophy’s birthday. “The day he was born is really hard to put into words,” she said. “You feel so proud of your child - but I was also extremely sad because I knew the outcome. We were told he would be alive for around two minutes, but he lived for an hour which amazed everyone and meant that we got to spend that little bit of time with him.
“We tried to enjoy every minute that we had with him. We were cuddling him, giving him kisses and talking to him. The pain is indescribable; knowing there is nothing you can do to save your child. But we know we did the kindest thing for him.”
In the weeks since Freddie’s tragic death, Sophy and Ben, who have a two-year-old daughter called Everleigh-Rose, have launched a Go Fund Me page for the Bassetlaw Maternity Ward. The couple have so far raised £1,025 in Freddie’s memory.
Writing on the page, Sophy said: “We are completely heartbroken from losing our boy so suddenly. Everything always looked perfect at every scan until one day we had a random scan which showed his kidneys were larger than they should be. MCDK is a very rare disease and there is no known cause. Sometimes it can be generic, however most of the time it is completely random and babies born with this condition do not survive if both kidneys are affected.
“The care we received at Bassetlaw Hospital was phenomenal. They made an extremely difficult time that little bit easier and we can’t thank them enough for everything they did for me, Ben and our boy. They treated us and Freddie with the utmost respect and dignity. Because of this, I started this fundraiser in Freddie’s honour to raise funds for the Bassetlaw Maternity ward.”
Sophy told Yorkshire Live ‘nothing was too much’ for the staff at Bassetlaw Hospital, adding: “They gave us a pram so that we could take Freddie outside and walk him around the rainbow garden.” To donate to Sophy’s Go Fund Me page, click here.
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