A baby was placed in a plastic bag to keep warm after he was born premature at just 25 weeks.
Pace Galbraith was delivered on March 11 at Worcestershire Royal Hospital, 101 days early from his due date weighing just 1lb 4oz. Pace's mother, Bella, was rushed to hospital on March 7 after her water broke and later transferred 72 miles away to a hospital in Bristol to undergo an emergency C-section, Hull Live reports. Doctors placed the newborn in a plastic drawstring neonatal bag just moments after he was delivered to maintain his temperature.
The baby was too frail to hold to cuddle and spent his first weeks of life in an intensive care unit at Bristol Children’s Hospital while his lungs are developing. His parents Bella and Paul, from Stourport-on-Severn, Worcestershire, will now have to travel 150 miles to see their son, who still remains at the Bristol hospital.
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Bella, 33, who has three other children, said: “He was actually trying to be born at 24 weeks but we had some drugs to try to delay it. When he was at 25 weeks, he decided he had enough.
“When he was born the doctors worked on him to get him breathing for five minutes. They then they popped him in a neonatal bag, which is basically a drawstring bag type thing that is used to keep him warm because Pace couldn't regulate his temperature."
Bella, who works as a receptionist, and her partner Paul, 42, a prison officer, are finally able to hold their newborn who still remains on a breathing machine and is fighting a presumed sepsis infection. Bella said: “You can see how much he’s developing into a normal looking baby. He was minute and his skin is quite delicate so you could not touch him.
“Progress is slow, the lungs aren’t developed until 32 weeks. So he was on a ventilator at first and now he’s on a different breathing machine." The two parents have set up a GoFundMe page for donations to help with the cost of travelling to Bristol.
Paul said: “It's a lot of stress and fuel. Financially we’re struggling because Bella is struggling with her maternity as she started her job at the wrong time as she fell pregnant.
“I was ready to start my prison officer job on March 7 and that was the day she woke me up half past two in the morning and said the baby’s coming. That was quite a stressful moment."
Bella wrote on the GoFundMe page: "He is a fighter and we continue to be amazed and proud of his determination and strength and tell him people other than us are waiting and wishing him a fast and safe return home."
The parents hope Pace will be well enough to come back home on June 22, his original due date.
