For Stirling mum Dawn Ferguson, her son Gabriel’s sudden and unexpected arrival 10 weeks early will always remain a mystery.
Personal trainer Dawn and husband Andy were preparing for the little one’s entry into the world in August 2018 - but they were left shocked when Dawn went into labour suddenly, leading to a mad rush to Forth Valley Royal.
Just half an hour after Dawn reported the first signs of pain, little Gabriel was born - weighing just three pounds.
He was whisked away to intensive care to be cared for by specialists - with his anxious parents left unable to hold him for the first few days of his life.
His journey into the world was made even more challenging by complications owing to his premature birth - including a heart defect and a bleed on the brain.
And after a painful six weeks, Dawn and Andy were able to take their new baby home for the first time and he celebrated his third birthday earlier this year.
However, the reminders of his premature arrival still live on - as he requires regular appointments with specialists and paediatricians based at the hospital.
As last week’s World Prematurity Day puts the issue in the spotlight, Dawn said: “There was just such a total change within minutes from being totally healthy and happy to having a baby who was really ill.
“That was really hard to come to terms with and we didn’t know a single thing about neonatal and that there is a whole world out there.
“We’ve never found out why my baby was born so soon, my placenta was analysed but I got a letter back a year later to say that it was just ‘unexplained’ and not having that reason has mentally affected me because I play that day back in my mind.
“I was treated for PTSD stemming from the experience of having a premature baby and still have after affects of trauma.
As part of her efforts to support those who have helped her, Dawn has been busy pounding the pavements along with her husband and a team of friends raising money for the premature birth charity Borne, as well as the hospital unit which helped care for Gabriel in those early weeks.
Those efforts have seen her raise £3,000 for Borne by taking part in a half-marathon around Stirling, with the intention of repeating the journey and raising even more during the official Stirling Half in May.
Her previous fundraising has also seen her raise a whopping £5,000 for the neonatal unit at Forth Valley Royal, helping it fund brand new twin incubators.
Dawn added: “Borne has a team of scientists looking into why people go into early labour, the facts are that 13 million babies are born early in the UK every year and one million unfortunately die so they work they do is so vital to give these babies a chance.
“It was so great to raise money for the incubators as well, they had never them before and it meant that twins had to be split up before that so it was just amazing that we were able to raise enough money to do that.
“I know friends now who have had twins and used those incubators themselves so it’s just great that we might have made a little contribution towards that.”
To support Dawn’s continued fundraising on behalf of Borne, you can visit justgiving.com/fundraising/dawn-ferguson8818.
