A baby who has been battling for his life since he was born 15 weeks early has been reunited with his twin brother after spending their first year apart.
Twins Ellis and Bayley Wharton have been reunited in time for their first birthday thanks to the ‘outstanding’ care and treatment Ellis received from staff at Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) NHS Trust.
This was the first time Ellis has been at the family’s home since he was born on April 17 2016.
Ellis and his brother Bayley, are monichorionic monoamniotic (MCMA) twins whereby they shared the same placenta and amniotic sac – which only occurs in one to two per cent of all twin pregnancies.
Mother of the two boys, Jo, went into early labour at 25 weeks.
At birth, the boys had bleeds on their brains and Ellis has been receiving hospital treatment since, mainly due to a central apnoea that causes him to stop breathing whilst he is asleep.
Jo, 36, said: “The team at NUH have worked incredibly hard for us to reach this goal and I don’t think Ellis would be here if it wasn’t for the intervention from the hospital’s Paediatric Critical Care and Long Term Ventilation (LTV) teams.”
Because of Ellis’ low drive to breathe he has to have constant support to breathe.”
She said: “Thanks to the LTV team they were able to assess his needs and put a strategy in place to ensure he receives the correct amount of oxygen, especially throughout the night when he is sleeping.”
Now, the addition of a nasal mask attached to a home ventilator system will allow Ellis to have a proper night’s rest, which has supported his growth and development.
Jo said: “Over the last couple of months he has come on leaps and bounds and this has been the first time we have been able to consider bringing him home permanently.”
Ellis was transferred to NUH six months ago so that he could be admitted to the hospital’s specialist Paediatric Critical Care unit at Queen’s Medical Centre (QMC).
NUH is one of only 12 centres in the UK to have a dedicated LTV teams and one of only a few who offer support in the community.
Rachel Gregory, WellChild LTV Nurse Specialist at NUH, commented: “The family have worked really hard with the team towards this and I’m so pleased that they feel happy and confident to take Ellis home on their own for his birthday.”
The LTV team covers Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Lincolnshire and Rachel’s post has been funded thanks to the WellChild charity.
She added: “Now that he is stable on the ventilator we are hopeful that he will be home permanently soon with support from community care partners. I’ll also continue to visit and provide ongoing support to the family.”
Jo thought saying thank you just isn’t enough.
She said: “Every person on the ward has taken an interest and have provided holistic personal care. Working with us and keeping us informed every step of the way.”
Jo and her husband Mark, celebrated the milestone with a little get together with friends and family who have supported them throughout the past year.
She said: “Over the last couple of months Ellis has come into his own. He enjoys kicking and splashing about at bath times, is now able to go outside and enjoys looking at trees and really loves his food.”
When Ellis does become an outpatient he will receive care from the hospital with support from other departments including Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, Speech and Language Therapy and Audiology.
Dr Charlotte Goedvolk, Paediatric Critical Care Consultant at NUH, said: “For the doctors and nurses, it’s lovely to see how he is developing and how much his character has grown over the past few months.
“It’s wonderful when his family and siblings are here together at the weekends and it is nice to know that hopefully very soon this will be permanent.”
