Peterborough mum of premature 'warrior baby' shares his battle for life and praises Cambs hospital staff

A mum from Peterborough is sharing the incredible journey her ‘warrior’ baby has been on – to highlight the fantastic work of staff at Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge.

Emma Gibbons’ son Joshua was born prematurely in August at just 25 weeks. He weighed just 1lb 8oz.

This followed a week-long labour which saw Emma’s placenta rupture, causing her to lose four pints of blood, and undergo emergency surgery herself.

It was a time when doctors warned Emma that her son, if he survived, could be left with various physical conditions and disabilities.

But after spending more than 150 days at the hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and overcoming various health challenges, Joshua is developing well – and now weights 7lb.

With the chances of survival for a baby born alive at 24 weeks being just 40%, according to the NHS, Joshua has truly overcome the odds.

Emma is now hoping he will be well enough by the end of the month to finally bring him home to his dad Ricky, and two older brothers James, 8 and Jack, 13.

“Joshua has fought so many battles,” said Emma, 36. “He has shown me what true strength and resilience look like.

"From the moment he arrived too soon, his fought battles most can’t even imagine, and through it all, has been a little warrior.”

Conditions the baby has been successfully treated for in his time at Rosie Hospital, the maternity department at Addenbrookes, include two blockages to his intestines, sepsis, brain bleeds, hearing loss, and a heart murmur. Alongside this, he’s endured five lumbar punctures to drain fluid from his spine and had a stoma bag fitted.

Astonishingly, he has also recovered from seven bouts of a serous internal infection called necrotising enterocolitis (NEC) – which causes intestinal tissue to die.

“He’s spent the last four months getting NEC – which is an infection that kills babies and my baby has had it seven times,” Emma recounts. “He’s overcome so many obstacles, he’s such a fighter.”

Emma said she learnt to cope with Joshua’s frail condition by celebrating every little milestone and small victory in his progress.

"Watching him struggle has been heartbreaking,” she admits. “I desperately wanted to take away Joshua’s pain, but knew I was unable to.”

Doctors were concerned his lungs hadn’t formed properly, but he came off the ventilator in September, was on breathing support until October, and is now breathing on his own.

Over the past five months, Emma has been making the two-hour round trip from her home in Peterborough to visit her infant son at Addenbrooke’s. She has had to juggle the hospital visits, daily medical updates and her own recovery, with all the usual mum duties at home during her maternity leave, including the school runs.

Describing the experience as an ‘emotional rollercoaster’ – she said: “I just couldn’t stop crying. Seeing my baby with all the wires and tubes and beeps going off around him, was just overwhelming. In the time Joshua has been at the NICU, we have seen other babies that were not lucky enough and didn’t make it. I just keep thinking that the universe has something special planned for him.”

She went on: "Each setback has tested us, but his fight to be here never wavered. I am so proud of him, not just for surviving and fighting the battles his had to face, but for thriving in his own way. Watching him fight through all the pain to stay here with us has made me more grateful than words can express.

"Every heartbeat, every breath, every moment with him is a miracle that I will never take for granted. His journey is nothing short of extraordinary. He is our beautiful, strong and unstoppable baby who we can’t wait to get home after these five very long months.”

Emma said that Joshua is now slowly getting his lungs used to feeding from a bottle, which has been helping him to gain weight.

“He’s battled through so much and has overcome most of what he’s been faced with,” she comments, “but we still don’t know what the future holds in terms of how these things may affect him long-term.”

Commenting on the medical team who have cared for Joshua, Emma added: “The Rosie Hospital is such a fantastic hospital that I would like to share with others how their care has been so appreciated. All the departments at Addenbrooke’s have been fantastic. I think we were very lucky that Joshua got a place here.”

The charity Bliss supports babies born premature or sick. For more details, visit their website.