- Nova Johnson was born almost three months early last August
- Weighed just 1lb and had to spend 101 days in hospital having treatment
- But almost a year on, she is making good progress, her parents say
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She was born weighing just 1lb and shorter than the length of a toothbrush.
But baby Nova Johnson – given just a 10 per cent chance of survival – has gone on made a miraculous recovery.
Arriving just 27 weeks into her mother’s pregnancy last August, doctors feared she was unlikely to survive.
Miracle: Nova Johnson – pictured here aged two months in the first picture her parents took of her – was born weighing just 1lb and shorter than the length of a toothbrush. She was given just a 10 per cent chance of survival after she was born just 27 weeks into her mother’s pregnancy
Nova’s mother Jennifer suffered from pre-eclampsia during her pregnancy. The condition can cause a premature birth and low birth weight
Her mother Jennifer had pre-eclampsia – high blood pressure and protein in in the urine during pregnancy.
The condition can cause fits (eclampsia) and other complications, as well as low birth weight and premature birth for the baby.
As a result, Mrs Johnson had to be admitted to hospital more than three months before she was due to give birth.
Nova was born by Caesarean but was so ill she was immediately taken to the critical care unit before her parents could even meet her.
‘She was absolutely tiny. It was ridiculous,’ her mother said. ‘The nurses said she was the smallest baby they’d ever seen born at 27 weeks.
Mrs Johnson, 45, said: ‘It was terrifying
knowing that our daughter was so tiny and so ill that we wouldn’t even
be able to see her until she was a day old.
After an agonising day’s wait, they were allowed to see her the next day.
Survivor: Nova (with father Daniel, right) will soon celebrate her first birthday and is making good progress
She was so tiny that her father Daniel’s wedding ring fitted over her foot and all the way up to her thigh.
And a toothbrush placed next to her was longer than her body.
‘She had tubes everywhere and was on a breathing apparatus – we were told to take it hour by hour,’ said Mrs Johnson.
BORN AT 27 WEEKS: PROGNOSIS
Premature babies born before their mothers are 27 weeks pregnant are more likely to survive than ever before, according to research published in the British Medical Journal.
However, the proportion of premature babies who experience serious health problems has remained ‘largely unchanged’.
While the pre-term survival rate continues to rise, the number of long-term disabilities, such as learning difficulties and cerebral palsy, will rise, the researchers warned.
Fearing Nova may not survive, doctors offered Mrs Johnson the chance to take a picture of her baby daughter.
But she refused – insisting Nova would pull through.
By the time she was two months
old, her daughter had survived heart surgery and was finally longer than the toothbrush.
‘After Nova came off the breathing
apparatus she made really good progress,’ her mother said.
‘She had her brain
scanned every week and her hearing and sight tested, but so far
everything is fine.’
And after 101 days in hospital, she had recovered enough to join her four sisters at home in Birmingham.
‘Everyone was hoping and praying that she’d be OK but I knew she was a little fighter and she’d make it through.
‘Now she’s at home it’s crazy to think how small she was. She’s such a smiley and placid baby and such a giggler. She’s always laughing at her sisters.
‘I just didn’t know how we were ever going to get through this so the fact that she’s doing absolutely perfectly is incredible.’
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Twinks,
Wotton,
3 hours ago
Bless her tiny cotton socks! I hope she continues to thrive.;
Bill,
London, United Kingdom,
4 hours ago
How lovely. Hope she gets to 100 candles one day!
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