Rose's story

Our beautiful daughter, Rose Sheila-Ann Peters was born at 10.05am on February 11th 2019, at Worcestershire Royal Hospital. We’d enjoyed a healthy pregnancy with no complications - so we were super-excited at 6am that morning when the waters broke and we knew Rose was on her way!

It was a relatively straightforward birth but from the moment Rose arrived it was clear there was something seriously wrong. She was changing colour, turning blue and after a quick test, we were told her oxygen levels were 50% of what they needed to be. Rose was immediately moved to the neonatal unit.

At that point, we were thinking and hoping that Rose just needed a little help to overcome the issue and that we’d soon be enjoying our first cuddles with our little girl.

Over the next few hours our fears grew. Rose was critically ill. A specialist team from Birmingham Children’s Hospital (BCH) had come down to Worcester to assess her, and when we next saw her six hours later, she was being treated for suspected Persistent Pulmonary Hypertension of the Newborn (PPHN), although none of the usual factors that cause PPHN were present. It was heart breaking to see our little girl attached to so many machines.

At about 6pm, after 8 long hours it was decided to transfer Rose to BCH for treatment. We were told the ambulance journey would be extremely risky and that there was a very real possibility that Rose wouldn't make it to BCH. Thanks to the Neonatal Transport Service and the fighting spirit of our very brave little girl, she did make it.

As soon as she arrived, Rose was placed on an ECLS machine, which took her blood, cleaned it, oxygenated it and then returned it to her body. She was also on a ventilator and being intravenously given around 20 different drugs.

After 5 days at BCH Rose woke up, having been weaned off all but two of her drugs. It was a magical day. We saw her beautiful blue eyes for the first time, watched her wriggling around and held her hands. We were still unable to hold Rose in our arms, due to the cannula in her neck, but these moments were incredible, it was at this point we were able to do some crafts with her and feel like "normal" parents.

The following week was a different story with Rose experiencing multiple difficulties and eventually being put on more drugs than she was when we first arrived. After 12 days Rose lost her brave battle and passed away on February 23rd 2019 at 8:03pm. At this moment our hearts broke, and we have a Rose shaped hole in our hearts that will be never be filled.

We will be forever grateful to all the staff at Worcestershire Royal Hospital for acting so quickly when Rose was born and for the heroes at Birmingham Children’s Hospital who allowed us to have 12 precious days with our beautiful baby Rose.