Wigan couple celebrate after long wait to take their baby home

“It’s brilliant to have her home. For me, it’s a dream come true. I have spent so long trying to have a healthy baby and it means the world to me.”
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Gail and Shane Dawber’s eyes are filled with love as they look at their baby Josephine.

Like any proud parents, they are delighted to be able to cuddle their bundle of joy and care for her at their home in Shevington.

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But it means so much more for the Dawbers, as they went through years of heartache before welcoming Josie Mae into the world.

Gail and Shane Dawber with their daughter JosephineGail and Shane Dawber with their daughter Josephine
Gail and Shane Dawber with their daughter Josephine

Gail, 36, has a rare genetic condition named myotubular myopathy, which affects her daily life, walking and makes it difficult for her to get out of a seat, for example.

But it is even more serious for males, who usually live only for a short time.

Gail said: “My mum had two boys who both died. She got through the pregnancy and they both died within a few days.

“I have always known I have the condition.”

Baby Josie in hospitalBaby Josie in hospital
Baby Josie in hospital
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Gail became pregnant in 2017, but sadly delivered a stillborn baby boy at 15 weeks.

The Dawbers decided to have IVF treatment, to make sure the gene was not passed on. But the three rounds led to two miscarriages and a failed attempt.

Gail said: “We decided to try naturally again and hope the baby wouldn’t be affected or we would get pregnant with a girl.

“I got pregnant at the beginning of last year and had an early blood test to find out if it was a boy or a girl. We found out it was a girl and girls don’t suffer from the condition the same.”

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It was a huge relief for the couple and the pregnancy progressed normally.

But Gail then went into labour 10 weeks early.

“I had a lot of back pain, but was dismissing it because I had normal back pain in the pregnancy. It got quite periodical, where it was maybe once an hour, and the time period was getting shorter,” she said.

“I called the maternity unit to see what they thought and they asked me to go in.”

Staff at Wigan Infirmary monitored Gail, with antibiotics given to prepare for an early birth.

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Baby Josie was born two days later at 9.41am on October 11, weighing 3lb 8oz.

Gail said: “She was so small. They wrapped her up in a kind of plastic bag to keep her warm. They put her on my chest briefly but had to rush her off.”

Josie was not breathing on her own, so had to be put onto a ventilator.

Gail said: “It was really bad. She was in an incubator and we weren’t allowed to take her out because she was so poorly. It was hard not being able to hold your baby or anything.

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“I think because there has been so much trauma in my family with the loss of boys, I was really worried she wouldn’t make it and would never be able to breathe.

“This pregnancy meant so much to me after everything I had been through.”

Little fighter Josie came off the ventilator after three days and was breathing on her own.

But at six days old doctors found she had meningitis.

Gail said: “She was quite ill with meningitis for maybe 10 days.

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“She had a few lumbar punctures to see if the fluid was still present around her brain. On the last one, everything was fine. I could tell she had perked up a bit.”

Josie stayed in intensive care, with a CPAP machine used to give her extra breaths and six days under a lamp to treat jaundice.

She had also had a bleed on the brain, but that resolved by itself.

Gail said: “I don’t think we realised how bad she was, until we were in the intensive care room and babies kept coming and going. It was maybe day nine or 10 when we realised it wasn’t normal for babies to stay in intensive care for so long.”

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Gail had been discharged from hospital a few days after her daughter’s birth, but spent every day visiting her, while Shane attended in the evenings after work.

The tot made good progress and plans were made to take her home in November.

But just a few days before, security manager Shane, 51, started coughing.

Gail, Shane and Josie all tested positive for coronavirus and had to isolate to prevent it spreading further.

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“We couldn’t see her for 11 days, which was absolutely heartbreaking,” Gail said.

Fortunately, staff at the hospital kept the couple informed of Josie’s progress through phone calls and videos, and she did not show any symptoms.

And on November 29, when everyone had recovered, they were finally able to take her home.

Gail admits it was “nerve-wracking” to be away from the medics and equipment, but she was delighted her daughter could leave the hospital.

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“I know it’s a nervous time for all new mums, but she was that poorly and there were so many things going on.

“She has been home now for five weeks and everything is hunky-dory. We are in a routine and happy,” she said.

Josie now weighs 8lbs and has no health problems other than reflux.

There is a 50/50 chance she will have myotubular myopathy, but her mum will be able to use her experience to support her if she does.

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Gail said: “I cannot thank the staff on the neo-natal unit enough. They were absolutely brilliant and looked after her so well.

“In the 11 days I couldn’t see her, I was confident that there were people there looking after her.”

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