Hole in the heart saves baby's life

Exclusive by Aline Nassif

aline.nassif@essnmedia.co.uk

Most parents would be horrified if their baby was born with a hole in the heart.

But thanks to a remarkable twist of fate, one saved eight-week-old Charlotte's life by cancelling out another incredibly rare heart defect.

Now, her jubilant mum and dad Katie and Nick Litchfield say they feel like the luckiest parents alive.

Katie, 30, said: "We're over the moon. Charlotte is healthy and perfect.

"I prayed every day when she was sick, and someone was listening."

Charlotte had a rare disease called Transposition of Great Vessels (TGV) which normally would have killed her in her mother's womb.

The disease stops the lungs getting oxygen but because she had a hole in the heart this didn't happen.

Although her birth was something of a miracle when she was born at Mayday Hospital on July 3 she still faced a battle for life.

First-time parents Katie and Nick, of Brighton Road, Purley, weren't aware at the time that she was lucky even to be alive but knew something was not right.

Katie, who underwent a gruelling 48-hour labour, said: "We knew something was wrong when she wasn't feeding 24 hours after birth.

"The doctors scanned her heart and they told us they'd need to get a second opinion.

"From that moment on we were expecting bad news."

A consultant then told them she had been born with TGV.

Charlotte was immediately sent for specialist treatment at London's St Thomas's Hospital.

Katie said: "You think you're going to take your baby home in the car seat.

"But suddenly you're looking at this little baby thinking 'My God, how long have I got her for?'

"The funeral goes through your mind and it's so emotional, especially with all the hormones running high."

The next morning, Charlotte, who weighed a healthy 7lbs 9oz, was taken to the Evelina Children's Hospital at St Thomas's, where a paediatric consultant's first words were "she's going to be okay".

Charlotte underwent open heart surgery at the age of one week, which corrected both the TGV and the hole in the heart.

She now has a large scar – but it is a small price to pay for life.

It was only after the relief of the operation going well that the couple were able to reflect on how fortunate Charlotte had been to have a hole in the heart.

TGV means her heart was plumbed the wrong way round.

In a normal heart, blood comes from the body to the right pump, into the lungs and back into the left pump from where it is pumped around the body.

But for Charlotte, and other TGV sufferers, the arteries are the wrong way round so oxygenated blood can't get to the lungs.

However, a hole in the heart – which effectively joins both pumps together – means crucially oxygenated blood can get to the lungs, albeit inefficiently.

Katie believes the experience will stand her daughter in good stead for life.

She said: "If she can do open heart surgery at one week old, she can do anything."

*Katie would like to highlight the work of the National Childbirth Trust which supported her throughout her pregnancy. It will be holding a pregnancy and baby fair at All Saints Church Hall, in Onslow Gardens, Sanderstead, between 11am and 2pm on Saturday September 27.