Iram and Khuram had their baby daughter at 32 weeks at Heartlands Hospital and wanted to donate to the Incubator appeal to help improve the start of babies lives at the hospital.

Iram suffered a difficult pregnancy with baby Fatima, she had hyperemesis which causes severe nausea during pregnancy, so she also had to go into hospital twice a week for fluids.

Talking about the pregnancy, Iram said: “The first scan was great, but the second scan was the gender reveal scan but the nurse said the baby had clenched fists and crossed legs so they couldn’t see the gender so we got referred to a specialist to see why she was in that position.”

They went to see a specialist who thought that the baby had Trisomy 18 which can cause abnormalities in a pregnancy so they did the amniocentesis test to detect any abnormalities. It was found that baby Fatima didn’t have Trisomy 18 so they were unsure what was causing her to be in this position.

After this, Iram was sent for a scan at QEHB where it was discovered Fatima’s lungs were half the size that they were supposed to be, had a lot of fluids in her head and abnormal limbs. By this point they had only just received a letter telling them that they were having a baby girl and Iram said: “We were over the moon when we found out we were having a girl.”

Iram’s waters broke early in the morning when she was 32 weeks pregnant so they rushed to Heartlands where she gave birth to her baby before she passed away in her arms after 45 minutes.

Pictured above: a Mother's Day angel for Iram

They were taken up to the Eden Suite, Heartlands Hospital’s bereavement unit, and said: “My labour and delivery was probably easier than my pregnancy. I gave birth and Fatima survived for 45 minutes, it was the best feeling giving birth to her and then she passed away in my arms.

“We set up a JustGiving page for the Incubator appeal because we wanted to do something to help babies get a better start in life.”

Iram and Khuram donated an incredible £3,100 to the Incubator appeal which will help us towards our goal of funding seven brand new state-of-the-art incubators for the Neonatal Unit.

Talking about the Eden Suite, they said: “The suite is so lovely and the staff are just amazing there, I was scared to look over at my daughter because I didn’t know what to expect but the staff really helped. We spent one night with her there and we now have hand and foot prints from her and a little box of things that remind us of her.

“We will never forget that one night we got to spend with our daughter, we will cherish it forever.”

To find out more about the Incubator appeal and what you can do to help more poorly babies at Heartlands Hospital, please click here.

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