'Little miracle': Premature baby born weighing 1lb 15oz survived after doctors put her in sandwich bag
A baby born 15 weeks premature was so tiny that doctors put her in a sandwich bag to keep her warm and mimic her mother's womb.
Faith Findlay weighed just 1lbs 15oz when she was delivered by emergency C-section at 26 weeks in September 2020 at James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough – three months before her due date.
Doctors immediately put Faith in a see-through sandwich bag, a strategy to mimic the womb and prevent her body temperature dropping.
Faith, who was lighter than half a bag of sugar and smaller than her mother's hand, had been rushed to intensive care, where doctors told her parents they didn't know if she would make it or not.
She battled a hole in her heart and a brain lesion – a spot on the brain that could indicate brain damage – and had to stay in the neonatal intensive care unit for 79 days.
But miraculously, Faith defied the odds and a year on from leaving hospital, she is now at home and thriving.
Mum Vanessa Findlay, 32, a waitress from Catterick, said: "They put her in this little bag to keep her warm and to mimic my womb. I was so shocked at how small she was."
Findlay and her husband, Kurt, 32, a lance corporal, were overjoyed to have their little girl home after a traumatic pregnancy and nervous few months.
Mother-of-three Findlay had suffered hyperemesis gravidarum, a condition causing horrific constant vomiting and nausea, for most of the pregnancy and had to be on bed rest.
She said: “It was such a horrible pregnancy and I was always scared I was going to lose her.
“When she was born she let out a little squeaky cry then she was rushed away to intensive care.
“She was just so tiny with all of these wires around her. Amazingly she pulled through and came home.
“I don’t think I slept a wink that first night she was back.”
Findlay found out she was pregnant in May 2020 when her husband, Kurt, was away in Afghanistan with the army.
“I had lost babies before and had complications so I was deemed high risk,” she said.
Findlay started to become very ill with hyperemesis gravidarum and was in and out of hospital as she became very dehydrated to the point her veins collapsed.
“It was horrific and with Kurt not at home I had to still look after my two boys, which I could hardly do," she said.
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Findlay was having regular scans and at 19 weeks medics discovered she had little to no cervix left, and would have to have emergency surgery to have it stitched closed.
“My consultant called my husband home at this point which was such a relief,” she said. “After the surgery I was on strict bed rest.”
The doctors had also managed to do a test which had determined that Findlay would likely go into early labour.
“At 22 weeks my water broke but they kept me in the hospital and tried to keep the baby inside me as long as possible," she said.
She managed to make it to 26 weeks before her contractions started and she was taken to the delivery ward.
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Findlay said: “They had to take my stitches out first and then in 15 minutes she was out. I was so relieved when I heard a little cry.”
The parents were able to see Faith later that day.
“She looked so tiny with all the wires and in her incubator," she said. "We had no idea if she would make it.”
Faith battled a hole in her heart and a spot on the brain and had to stay in hospital for 79 days. She still has a hole in her heart to this day, but doctors are hoping it will close up on its own.
The Findlays were able to take their baby daughter home in December 2020. Although still tiny, Faith is doing well at home.
“We didn’t know until the day that we could take her home," Findlay said. "The hospital suddenly rang and said: 'Bring the car seat.'
“She’s still quite a tiny one-year-old but she’s a little fighter. I’m so happy that she is healthy and thriving.”
