A mum whose daughter was born without a heartbeat is raising awareness on World Prematurity Day on the one-year anniversary of her baby being discharged from hospital. Helen Hudson, 40, a solutions and partnership lead for a social enterprise, was 20 weeks pregnant when one of her twin babies, Beatrice, passed away, but she carried both siblings a further eight weeks before undergoing an emergency caesarean.
After being born without a heartbeat, baby Emmeline faced many health complications in the first few months of her life due to being premature, but Helen says the family are now making up for lost time. Emmeline, who finally returned home from hospital on World Prematurity Day 2021, is now thriving and Helen is looking forward to enjoying Christmas as a family.
Helen, who lives in Huddersfield with her husband, Chris, 37, a deputy head teacher, and their two children, Ted, four, and Emmeline, 18 months, said: “Losing Beatrice and then going through months of Emmeline being critically ill was a very traumatic time for us as a family. We couldn’t do all of the things we wanted to do in the first year of Emmeline’s life, so we’re making those memories now.”
