A DONEGAL family is giving back to the medical teams, air crew and blood donor who helped save their newborn daughter.
Nell McGeady was born in July this year and was diagnosed with a rare blood condition before birth.
Her mum Lauren, from Falcarragh, was told about Nell’s diagnosis with haemolytic disease of the newborn (HDN), a condition where maternal antibodies attack a baby’s red blood cells.
Speaking to the Donegal News, Lauren explained that the condition was caught when she was 28 weeks pregnant after attending a routine scan.
“A few days later, I got a phone call from the hospital saying that I had antibodies positive in my blood and that they needed to do some further testing just to make sure they understood which antibodies I had,” she said.
High-risk
Further tests showed that Lauren has the anti-C antibody, which led to her body not recognising the baby’s blood as compatible with her own.
“What was happening then from 28 weeks was that my antibodies would ramp up and pass through the placenta to my baby, and therefore attack my baby’s blood, which could cause severe anaemia in the womb,” said Lauren.
“Because of the risk of anaemia, it could lead to a lot of high-risk complications like spina bifida and brain damage, so they needed to monitor me closely.
“Then I was referred to Dublin, so I had to go to the National Maternity Hospital, where they did some scans, so I was up there every two weeks. And then I was in Letterkenny, so I’d be in Letterkenny one week for scans and then Dublin the next week. So it was a lot of travelling up and down as well especially when you’re so far along in the pregnancy as well and the stress of it all.”
Lauren had to give birth in Dublin and baby Nell spent her first five days in intensive and high-dependency care at the National Maternity Hospital.
Baby Nell spent her first few weeks in hospital after she was born in July.
“The worry throughout the whole pregnancy was how bad is the anaemia going to be because we knew it was happening, we just didn’t know the extent of it in the womb,” said Lauren.
“That was done initially and then she had to go straight under the UV light because she was jaundiced. So they had to keep her in the incubator and keep doing blood tests just to keep checking the jaundice levels and the anaemia levels. She was doing really well so they decided that she’d be fine to go home to Donegal.”
Nell was flown to Letterkenny by the Irish Air Corps and National Neonatal Transport Service.
As Lauren was only five days post C-section, she was not allowed to travel home with Nell.
“We had some of our family members there to meet her off the helicopter, which was so nice knowing that she wasn’t alone,” said Lauren.
Nell spent four and a half weeks in the neonatal unit at Letterkenny University Hospital. As she was anaemic, she needed a blood transfusion at three weeks old from the Irish Blood Transfusion Service.
“After five weeks, she was antibody-free and her blood transfusion really helped the anaemia,” said Lauren. “Her iron levels started going up again, which was really, really good. So that’s when she was finally discharged from the hospital.
“Now, we did have to go back for two weeks just for extra testing, just to make sure that her bloods weren’t reversing and going back the way, but then she was finally discharged after seven weeks.”
Giving back
Nell is now back home and Lauren said she is doing “brilliantly”, settling into family life with her mum, dad Shane, and big sister Mabel, two.
After a worrisome few months, the family now want to raise as much as possible to support the organisations who provided vital help and care during Nell’s first few weeks.
These are: the National Maternity Hospital (NICU), The Irish Air Corps and National Neonatal Transport Service, Letterkenny University Hospital Neonatal Unit (NNU), and The Irish Blood Transfusion Service (IBTS).
A GoFundMe page set up by Lauren has raised over €1,100 towards a €2,000 target, which will be split among the four organisations.
“When Nell was in hospital we always felt like she was in safe hands when we couldn’t be with her,” said Shane.
“Everybody in the maternity ward and NNU went above and beyond for Nell and our family. We will always be grateful for what they did for us.”
“It was just a whirlwind of just coming and going and not knowing what was happening,” said Lauren.
“There were days where we didn’t want to go in because we didn’t want to hear bad news.
“We’d have our hopes up thinking she’d be getting home, and then it would be another week and then another week.
“We are deeply appreciative of all the doctors, nurses, midwives, consultants, volunteers, social workers, paramedics, mental health nurses, pilots, and of course the anonymous blood donor who helped get our little girl home.
“If it wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t have our little baby at home healthy, and they really helped us mentally as well, which we’re very, very grateful for.”
As well as the fundraiser page, Nell’s family will also be taking on a charity climb of Errigal mountain on Saturday, November 14 at 10am. All are welcome to join.
To support the fundraiser, visit ‘Giving back for helping our baby Nell’ on GoFundMe.