A mum who was left devastated by the death of her son following complications after his birth is now overjoyed after giving birth to twins just two minutes apart but bizarrely born on different days.
Kara Penfold said she lost trust in the NHS following the tragic death of son Arthur in 2017, Birmingham Live reports.
Now five years on, she and husband Sam are proud parents to little Nico and Lleucu.
They were born eight weeks early at New Cross Hospital in Wolverhampton weighing 4lb 12oz and 4lb 9oz respectively and now being cared for by the special care baby unit.
And, in a strange quirk, the twins were born on different days, with Nico arriving at one minute to midnight on April 8, followed two minutes by Lleucu at one minute past midnight on April 9.
The couple live in Wales but decided to have their children delivered at New Cross after being left scarred by their heartbreaking previous experience when they lost Arthur, who died shortly after being born.
Kara, 29, said going back to the hospital where Arthur died "wasn't an option".
She said: “We had quite a bad experience which resulted in the loss of our son, shortly after I delivered.
"This broke down all trust between myself and the NHS and left me very anxious when we found out soon after Arthur's funeral that I was pregnant again. I had no idea what to do.
“Being type 1 diabetic I knew I needed special help with my pregnancy, although the idea of going back to where we lost Arthur wasn't an option for us as a family."
A family connection to New Cross ended up taking the couple more than 100 miles from where they live to Wolverhampton.
Kara, who is also mum to Ralffi, 4 and Dyfi, 3, said the care and attentiveness of staff there helped restore her faith in the NHS.
She explained: "My husband Sam’s auntie works as New Cross as a breast feeding specialist and mentioned Dr Lucy Morse, consultant obstetrician, to us. I reluctantly came to have a first scan at the hospital before meeting Lucy, and falling in love with her.
“She reassured me with her empathetic and human nature and I left my first appointment with her feeling like maybe I would actually be lucky enough to become a mum after all.
"Lucy had read my notes so thoroughly I felt like she knew me better than any doctor I'd ever met.
“We continued to travel to our appointments in Wolverhampton throughout my pregnancy with Ralffi; by the end of the pregnancy I felt I knew everyone on the team.
"From the receptionists to the consultants, the doctors to the midwives and I even had a good relationship with the anaesthetist who I'd met prior to the spinal anaesthetic and delivery."
After going through the trauma of losing little Arthur, Kara said deciding to give birth at New Cross was the best decision she'd ever made.
She added: “The continuity of care and the team morale at New Cross is what's kept me coming back for three pregnancies.
"If I lived in Australia I would have still travelled to New Cross for my care.”
