Bradford mum calls for law change after son born at 24 weeks

Joanne Claire Russell, of Oakenshaw, had a “traumatic” start to motherhood when her son was born early at 24 weeks, becoming one of the UK's most premature babies ever.

Murphy, who weighed 780g or 1lb 11oz at birth, was rushed into neonatal care and hooked up to an oxygen machine as he battled low heart rate and a bleed on his brain.

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His parents spent the first four months of their son’s life in a neonatal care unit in a constant state of “worrying” – babies born at 23 weeks don’t usually survive.

Joanne, who had an emergency caeserean, said: “When I went into birth it was about 13 hours. They kept checking and I was bleeding and bleeding.

“They take you in and they put them in plastic bags - you get a quick look at the baby and they’re rushed off to neonatal.

Baby Murphy who was born at 24 weeks

“I did see other babies being brought down and it’s so traumatic. You don’t know what to do.”

Murphy is on the mend, with his oxygen levels set to be slowly lowered in the coming months.

But health professionals don’t know how Murphy’s early birth will affect his development until he’s much older.

Joanne is one of more than 300, 000 parents campaigning for changes to the law. The couple’s parental leave began the day after Murphy was born in late January.

She said: “It would just be so helpful if you could have the time you spend in hospital at home as well.

“It’s just a worry that you’re going back soon, you’ve not had much time to bond.

“It’s a bit of a countdown. I’m worried about him all the time. If you have your baby at full term you’ve got nine months to enjoy time off but now he’s only going to be five months when I go back.

“You feel like you’ll be missing all his firsts.

“I think until they go through it themselves it’s hard for anybody to understand - all the time you spend in hospital and not really enjoying having a baby.”

The original petition was set up by Catriona Ogilvy, now the founder of premature baby charity The Smallest Things.

The charity wants to extend paid parental leave by the number of days a baby is born premature.

The campaigner said: “We urge the government to act now so that all parents have the time to bond with their babies and have a better chance of returning to work successfully after the trauma of time on a neonatal unit. We don’t believe work or pay should be added to those worries.”

Mrs Ogilvy and her team met with Kelly Tolhurst, MP for Rochester and Strood, and officials from the department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) for a short, focused review earlier this year.

But she feels “frustrated” that the findings have not been published and that further consultation has now been recommended by the minister.

She said: “While some employers are taking the lead, signing up to our Employer with Heart charter and extending paid parental leave for staff whose babies are born premature, the government has been slow to take action to ensure that all families of premature babies have access to extended leave.”

Naz Shah, Labour MP for Bradford West and shadow minister for women and equalities, has given her backing to a review.

She said: “There are quite rightly real concerns about the way maternity leave works when premature births take place. Maternity leave is there to support both mothers and children at the time of birth. Premature births are natural and often a time when the mothers and children need extra care. The Government should look into this area, to ensure these women are given the support that is needed.”

A BEIS spokesperson said a consultation is taking place this Summer to see what further support could be launched for parents of premature, sick and multiple babies.

The spokesperson said: “As a government, we are committed to supporting working parents. Having a premature or sick baby can be an incredibly difficult time for parents. Some parents can face significant challenges if their baby spends a long time in neonatal care, which may impact on their ability to return and stay in work.”