Posted on: 20 Jun 2022
Many of our fundraisers raise money for Nottingham Hospitals to say thank you to the caring staff who have looked after them or someone they love. Becky Aucott and her family are taking part in numerous fundraising events, including taking on the Big QMC Abseil, to say thank you to the team who saved her son’s life straight after birth.
Here, Becky shares her emotional story with us…
“On the 1st of November 2021, our son Seb was born after a very fast induction. During his birth, he suffered a Shoulder Dystocia, which lasted 8 minutes in total. Quickly the labour room filled with lots of people who surrounded the Neonatal team and me. When Seb was delivered, he was already so poorly. He was pale, floppy, had no reflexes. He wasn’t breathing and there was no sign of a heart rate. It took 8 minutes of resuscitation before he took his first breath.
“After all that trauma he was immediately intubated and rushed to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit to start the cooling process which would lower his core temperature to 33.4 degrees for 72 hours. It was agonising having to wait 2 hours to meet him and when we did, he was so poorly. Shortly afterwards he was diagnosed with Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE) which means that he had a lack of oxygen which was affecting his brain.
“Then he was transferred by the specialist Neonatal transport team to Nottingham City Hospitals NICU. After a few hours, I was discharged so we followed him over to the hospital. When we arrived, we found his crib by the front desk, which meant that he was one of the sickest babies there. We were very lucky to be provided with a room on the transition suite, which is usually kept for babies who are heading home or the sickest babies.
“After the longest 72 hours, Seb was moved from the cooling process to the warming process. This was an absolute critical time for him, as he needed to return to a natural body temperature. We sat by his cribside throughout the warming process and he was very fortunate to not have suffered any seizures or complications during this time. This meant that he could receive an MRI the very next day.
During the 4-day mountain bike challenge
“After the MRI, our brave boy went from strength to strength. He developed his suck and gag reflex, which after four days of no food, it was incredible to see him fight back.
“The nurses were so caring and supported us with things like changing nappies, pumping and feeding through an NG tube and everything else that we wanted to do with him. After four days, we were able to hold him in our arms. Navigating the wires and tubes was a challenge but holding him in our arms was incredible.
“He went from strength to strength every day and on day seven we were discharged from the hospital which was faster than anyone expected.
“We are so lucky to be at home and enjoying our baby boy as a family. We’re slowly learning to process the physical and emotional trauma and we’re trying to come to terms with the ‘wait and see’ prospect of his future in terms of development.
“We’re so proud of his big brother who has handled this so well. Even with the help of the professionals, the best care Seb will receive is from his doting big brother.
“We’re so grateful for all the help we received and for the doctors and nurses for saving Seb’s life and for giving him the best possible chance for his future.”
Becky, Jason, Toby and Seb during the bake sale
To say thank you to the incredible team, Becky, Jason and Toby will be taking on lots of different fundraising challenges. So far, they have already done a bake sale, a 4-day mountain bike challenge and in the future there will be an auction, a hike, dog show, afternoon tea and they’ll be taking on this year’s Big QMC Abseil.
We’re so grateful for fundraisers like Becky, Jason and Toby for everything they do and for allowing us to support families and patients just like them.
You can donate to the family’s JustGiving page here.
Find out more about how to say thank you to Nottingham Hospitals by clicking the button below