THERE are many people who wouldn’t be alive today without the special care of Barnsley’s neonatal services.

Among them are Beth Sellars-Reed and Jack Claydon.

Beth, now 29, was cared for in the special care baby unit (SCBU) for five weeks after her mum went into labour at 29 weeks and had an emergency C-section. Beth weighed just two pounds, 11 ounces.

Her parents told her all about her birth and said although they were ‘terrified’ at the time, they were reassured by staff.

Beth said: “I was on a breathing monitor and in SCBU for five weeks. The care we received was out of this world. They didn’t only look after the babies but also the parents.”

Beth, of Welbeck Street, Barnsley, has worked at Barnsley Hospital since she was 20, having started as an apprentice. She is now a diabetic eye screener.

She said: “I don’t think I would be here if it wasn’t for the care we had. I had to be fed through my belly button as I was so small. The Lan-Tarn Fest is coming up and I would dedicate a Lan-Tarn to the SCBU for all the hard work they put into my immediate care.”

Jack Claydon, 19, says he would ‘definitely not’ be here without Barnsley’s neonatal team.

He said: “After complications I was technically dead and the neonatal team brought me back to life. My mum suffered bleeding at 36 +4 weeks due to her placenta rupturing. She was at home with my sister who was only one-year-old at the time. “She phoned my nannan (her mum) to come down and look after my sister and my nannan then rang my dad who was working nights to come home.

“My mum was taken in the ambulance and my dad followed in the car. My mum had an emergency C section when she arrived at the hospital as the nurses couldn’t find a heartbeat. The umbilical cord had ripped and I was oxygen deprived and my mum was bleeding internally.”

It took doctors 15 minutes to resuscitate Jack and bring him back to life.

Jack, of Worsbrough Road, Birdwell, sat down a few months ago with his mum and siblings and she told them the full story.

He said: “My mum gets upset talking about it so I could tell it was a traumatic experience for her. I know she was very scared as the bleeding started while she was home alone with a one-year-old. Luckily, she had my nannan and dad to support her.”

Jack is now completing his level three business admin qualification at a glass company in Sheffield. He said: “I owe my life to the neonatal team. For the Lan-Tarn Fest coming up, I’d dedicate one to the entire women’s services team the neonatal team for my care, but also the maternity team who stopped my mum’s internal bleeding. Without them, neither me or my mum would be alive.”

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