Family of tiny baby back Leeds hospital’s life-saving incubator appeal

Chris Burns and Emma Bailey’s son Archie was born ten weeks early weighing just 2lb 12oz.

The couple, from Fitzwilliam in Pontefract, believe that their son was given the best chance of survival thanks to an incubator on the Neonatal Unit at Leeds Children’s Hospital, and are backing hospital charity Leeds Cares’ latest appeal to raise more than £23,000 for a new Baby LEO incubator.

This hybrid incubator will allow optimal thermal and humidity environments, even when the lid is open for emergency procedures.

At 28 weeks, the first-time parents were told there was just an eight per cent chance that Emma would go into early labour, but two weeks later Archie was born at their local hospital.

As well as being born prematurely, Archie had OA and TOF (oesophageal atresia and tracheo-oesophageal fistula) which had gone undiagnosed during pregnancy.

This meant that he was struggling to feed and breathe normally, so was transferred to Leeds Children’s Hospital for specialist care. “The consultant at Leeds told us that Archie urgently needed an operation and he went in for surgery just a day after he was born,” recalls Chris.

Archie was then taken to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit where he was in an incubator for two weeks.

“At first, we were scared seeing our little boy in the incubator and felt really detached from him, but the staff reassured us that Archie was in safe hands and talked us through everything.

“We were absolutely amazed when the staff explained how much the incubator does to help babies like Archie, from regulating his temperature to minimising light and noise exposure.”

Archie is now just over a month old still needs heat support from an incubator, but Emma and Chris said thanks to the specialist equipment and care, he is going from strength to strength. The family hope he will be transferred back to their local hospital in November and home in time for their first Christmas together.

Emma says, “It’s hard to put into words how grateful we are for the amazing care we’ve received at Leeds; we simply cannot thank the staff enough. Without the specialist care and access to the incubator, Archie would have had a much rockier start to life and might not be here with us today.”

The coronavirus outbreak has had a huge impact on the demand for incubators, as all new babies on the unit must be kept in an incubator until their mother has had a Covid-19 test.

The incubators need regular servicing, repairs, and upgrades in order to maintain the high level of care provided to premature and 
new-born babies on the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

To donate, visit https://donate.leeds-cares.org/donate/become-a-friend/