Extremely premature babies always face a battle for life, but one born in the UK at 26 weeks who contracted sepsis beat all odds and predicted death. The girl’s mother, Alicia Sparks, said that her daughter Aurora John is now, several months later, “very good, considering,” as reported by the UK’s South Wales Argus.
Born January 6 to Sparks and Zarik John, Aurora’s birth seems like a picture of miracles. At just one pound and seven ounces, the odds seemed stacked against him. Born by emergency Caesarean section at 26 weeks, his mother explained, “After my water broke early and in efforts to try to stop my labor, I unfortunately contracted maternal sepsis. ”
According to Mayo Clinic, “Sepsis is a serious condition in which the body does not respond to an infection.” In essence, the body’s mechanisms for fighting an infection are completely opposite; thus, a person with sepsis will have his or her organs malfunction. Mayo said, “Sepsis can progress to septic shock. This is a dramatic drop in blood pressure that can damage the lungs, kidneys, liver and other organs. When the damage is severe, it can lead to death. “
Baby Aurora “It was an incredibly rocky start after he contracted sepsis and it was very difficult, but he defied the odds and pulled through,” his mother explained.
At six weeks old, the South Wales Argus reports, Aurora went under operation for sepsis at University Hospital Southampton (over 100 miles away). Afterwards, he was returned to Grange University Hospital with the aim of gaining weight before his next operation. His older siblings Tia, Dylan, and Freya were at home waiting for him.
Right to Life UK A longitudinal observational study was cited in January 2022 at Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA)which concluded: “Among extremely preterm infants born 2013-2018 and treated at 19 US academic medical centers, 78.3% survived to discharge, a higher rate than infants born in 2008 -2012.”
Right To Life UK spokeswoman Catherine Robinson said, “Baby Aurora’s inspirational story is a testament to improving outcomes for premature babies and an ongoing challenge to the current abortion time limit of 24 week in the UK.”
