A mum from Pontrhydygroes has praised staff at a Swansea hospital for saving her daughter who was born at just 23 weeks, weighing just over 1lb.

Olivia Edwards was given just a 30 per cent chance of surviving 24 hours after being born in July 2016.

Mum Kate admits to being “terrified” when she and her partner Mark saw their tiny daughter among all the beeping machines in the neonatal intensive care unit at Singleton Hospital.

Due to a rare condition - an extremely small uterus – Kate went into labour at 23 weeks and five days, while on a train.

Telling her story on the Straight Roads Don’t Make Skilful Drivers podcast, she recalls how she was so early in her pregnancy that staff at the first hospital she went to told her she was having a miscarriage.

“They didn’t talk about the fact that I might be going into labour, they didn’t talk really about a baby and this was because I was only 23 weeks pregnant at the time,” she said.

“We were absolutely just devastated at what they were telling us and the thing that confused us was that she still had a heartbeat and so she wasn’t dead, but we knew that things were not going to look very good.”

Kate was transferred to Singleton Hospital by ambulance, where she gave birth to Olivia.

“We saw her for four and a half minutes during which time she was intubated by the neonatal rescue team that came to the labour ward,” Kate said.

“Then she was taken away.

“We didn’t know for about 12 hours whether she had survived or not.

“The following lunchtime we were taken through to the unit and we walked in and it was just full of beeping.

“We were taken to the incubator and it was there we met Dr Joanna Webb, who is just the most amazing, compassionate and articulate, driven woman I have ever come across and she led the team the night that Olivia was born.”

Olivia finally left hospital on her actual due date of 16 November.

“She has done very well,” Kate said.

“It’s all down to the work of the team at Singleton.

“The purpose and passion of the people made them into a truly great team without whom Olivia would not be alive.”

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