A baby boy who was born prematurely days before Christmas at just 31 weeks gestation is now “healthy and doing great” at seven months old.
Alice Varley, from Dublin, had only been pregnant for 31 weeks when baby Liam was born. Alice said she “had a low-risk pregnancy” until, during a routine midwife appointment in December, she found out her baby was measuring smaller than he should have been.
Earlier in the month, Alice had been experiencing migraines, extreme fatigue, and pain in her ribs, but she had visited maternity triage several times but no alarm bells had been raised.. Alice said that her gut was telling her something was wrong, and it was soon discovered that she had pre-eclampsia, a condition that can cause serious complications during pregnancy. A consultant told Alice and her partner, Alex Beck, that their baby would need to be born very soon, otherwise he may not survive..
Alice had to stay in the hospital for two days before the birth, which helped her “mentally prepare” to give birth sooner than expected. Fortunately, “Liam was a little fighter and his heartbeat stayed strong the entire time”,, and he was born tiny but in a stable condition, with his mum describing him as an “incredibly healthy preemie”.
Alice had to remain in the hospital’s high dependency unit because of her pre-eclampsia, so she was unable to be with her newborn baby for 36 hours. For the first day after giving birth, Alice could only see baby Liam in photographs and videos that her partner Alex had sent to her.
“I was able to look at his incubator briefly in a wheelchair for 10 minutes after 24 hours, but I probably didn’t hold, touch or see him with his eyes open until 36 hours after his birth”, Alice said.
A video of Alice and baby Liam, taken during the first time she got to hold him, has gone viral on TikTok, gaining over 2 million views. Alice said that “Baby Liam was asleep and as soon as I held him, he opened his eyes and looked straight at me”, describing the moment as “perfect”. Alice is now using her social media platform to share her story and raise awareness of the unusual symptoms of pre-eclampsia which she experienced.
Now, seven months on, Alice says that every day with baby Liam is “wonderful".