WASHINGTON – Check-ups during pregnancy tend to focus around the waist. But there's growing debate about which mothers-to-be should have a gland in their neck tested, too. Numerous studies since 1999 have found that an underactive thyroid can raise a woman's risk of miscarriage, premature birth, or a lower IQ for her baby — even if it's so mildly sluggish that she feels no symptoms.

The problem: While serious cases are treated with a hormone pill, so far there's little evidence that treating the milder cases makes a difference. So guidelines about who should be tested vary widely.
Now a peek at prenatal testing from one of the country's largest medical labs suggests that nearly a quarter of pregnant women are getting the simple thyroid blood test regardless of whether they have symptoms.

Researchers at Quest Diagnostics examined records for half a million pregnant women. Of those who got tested, a higher-than-expected number — 15 percent — had an underactive thyroid. That's five-fold higher than some previous estimates, partly because the way in which the condition is diagnosed has changed recently, says the study published by the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
The vast majority of those women were in the gray zone, with milder cases where no one knows for sure if a diagnosis helps or wastes money on testing and thyroid medication. The finding adds pressure for science to settle this long-running controversy.

"We still don't have perfect answers," says Dr. Elizabeth Pearce, a well-known endocrinologist at Boston Medical Center, where a recent survey found widespread prenatal thyroid testing. But, "if it's my patient in my office, or it's me or my family member, I'm going to treat every time."Obstetricians seem more wary.
"There are studies on both sides of the fence," says Dr. Dena Goffman of New York's Montefiore Medical Center, which tests only women at high risk. "If you don't know what to do with the results, you probably shouldn't order the test," she said.

The unassuming thyroid — a small bow tie-shaped gland nestled in the front of the neck — plays a big role in good health for everyone. It produces hormones that regulate metabolism and can affect almost every type of tissue in the body. About 20 million Americans are estimated to have a malfunctioning thyroid that, if serious enough, can contribute to heart disease, bone-thinning osteoporosis and infertility.
An overactive thyroid, called hyperthyroidism, speeds up bodily functions, causing such symptoms as weight loss, nervousness, anxiety and increased heart rate and vision problems.

Much more common is an underactive thyroid, called hypothyroidism. It slows body functions, causing such problems as fatigue, weight gain, depression, constipation and dry skin. It even can contribute to high cholesterol, according to the National Institutes of Health. Thyroid problems increase with age, but they affect far more women than men — and pregnancy puts extra stress on the gland.

Having enough thyroid hormones is important for fetal brain development, especially during the first trimester, when the fetus depends solely on the mother for them. The hormones also play a role in avoiding miscarriage or premature birth.

Mothers also may harbor immune system cells called antibodies that subtly attack the gland and likewise are linked to miscarriage and prematurity. Italian researchers found that treating those women lowered their risk of encountering this problem.

There is broad agreement that women with overt hypothyroidism — a seriously underactive gland — should be treated, most likely given a once-a-day hormone pill long known to be safe in pregnancy. But it takes blood testing to diagnose overt disease because even those women don't always report the vague symptoms.

Those $25 blood tests are sure to uncover women with mild hypothyroidism, too, the people in the so-called gray zone. Some research has raised questions about whether mild cases really pose a pregnancy risk, and preliminary results from a large British study recently found no overall IQ benefit to the resulting children if their mothers had been treated.

But the damage might already have been done by the time treatment began late in the first trimester, notes Boston's Pearce. In the U.S., doctors are anxiously awaiting a similar National Institutes of Health study; results aren't expected until 2015.

What's the advice until then? The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends testing only pregnant women who have thyroid symptoms, have had previous thyroid problems, or have similar autoimmune diseases such as Type 1 diabetes — those considered at risk for overt disease.
The American Thyroid Association goes further. Last summer it advised also testing all pregnant women age 30 and older, and those with enlarged thyroids, previous pregnancy problems or those who are obese, says Pearce, who co-authored the guidelines.

Most guidelines cite the lack of evidence for treating mild cases. The thyroid association does urge treatment if those women harbor the worrisome antibodies. A final tip: Pregnant women should check that their prenatal vitamins contain iodine, important for proper thyroid function, Pearce says. Not all do. Most Americans get enough iodine from dairy products, bread, seafood and iodized table salt. But women need extra during pregnancy.

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This is another in a series of stories on local people who made news in 2011. It was a year wrought with emotion for Marengo resident Amanda Schulten, who chose life for her conjoined twins during her pregnancy despite the enormous odds against their survival.

Schulten saw the pregnancy through until her daughters Faith and Hope were born on Sept. 6 at the University of Chicago Medical Center. She held the twins in her arms as they passed away 23 days later.

Still healing from the loss, Schulten said she is grateful for everything she has in life. “In these past months, I’ve been trying to stay positive, and move forward. Some days are harder than others, when knowing God took my daughters so soon,” she said recently in her online blog documenting her journey. “I need to remind myself that I am thankful for everything God has given me.”

Despite the grave medical prognosis, Schulten, just 21 year-old at the time, said early on in the pregnancy that there was simply no other option than to bring the twins into the world — that they should be given a chance to live, no matter how long those lives may be.

Strong in her religious beliefs, Schulten said did not want to interfere with God’s will. “He has a plan for me, and for them,” she said when interviewed in August. “We never know when our last day will be. We have to enjoy it, and appreciate health while we have it.”

The girls had separate heads but were fully connected at the torso, sharing a heart, a liver, and both lungs and kidneys. They also shared two legs, one of which was clubbed. Each had one good arm, with another half arm on one side.

Although Schulten found online cases documenting similar twins living a few years, most do not survive very long after birth. The already bleak prognosis became more ominous three days after the girls were born, when a scan revealed a shunted heart — a condition of oxygen-poor blood flowing from one side to the other, and into the circulatory system.

Hope and Faith survived until Sept. 26, but never left the hospital. Schulten is continuing to update the online blog she created at amanda-faithhopelove.blogspot.com, which tells the story of her pregnancy and emotions afterward.

It’s been a long journey since April 1, when she first learned she was carrying twins during a routine ultrasound at Elgin’s Sherman Hospital. Schulten learned the distressing news that they were conjoined a few days later in her doctor’s office, where she was urged to have an abortion due to the grave prognosis.

Dark days would follow in the form of depression and loneliness, as many around her didn’t agree with her decision to continue the pregnancy. The difficulty was underscored after stories appeared in the Courier-News and Chicago Sun-Times about her decision, but she never wavered.

Several online bloggers wrote hurtful comments, she said, accusing her of everything from using taxpayer money to pay for the twins’ medical expenses to criticizing her for seeing the ill-fated pregnancy through and for her religious beliefs.

But she has asked that she not be judged, and wondered if some of her critics might change their minds if it were their children at stake.

“If they were in my shoes, maybe they’d see it differently,” Schulten said at the time. “If mothers don’t protect their children, who else will?”

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Jolene Ali still sometimes struggles to sleep. It does come easier these days than back in 2006, when the first Sweet Momma spa opened. Worrying about her infant venture made shut-eye difficult for Ali, who left a promising career at Lilydale Foods to do an MBA at the University of Alberta and eventually start her own business.

"It was probably 3-1/2 or four years before I could really have a night's sleep," she said. "A business is like a child. When your baby is small, you can't just leave it - you always have to be looking after it. As it gets bigger and time passes, you become more confident and relaxed about it." Ali, 34, usually nods off easier these days - but not always.

"The other night, I barely slept," she said. "My payroll was a mess this week."With the original south-side Sweet Momma generating nearly $1 million in annual revenue and a franchised location in St. Albert, Ali could probably afford the odd daytime nap to recuperate, except she doesn't seem the type to relax while others work.

Yet that idea sits at the heart of her burgeoning business. The Sweet Momma spas cater to pregnant women, offering massage, pedicure, manicure, acupuncture, steam, moisturizing and waxing. Arcane beauty products stock the shelves in the lobby of the south-side store: Wild Lemon Tonique, Persimmon and Cantaloupe Day Cream, Carmel Latte Tinted Moisturizer. Pacifying background music filters through pastel-coloured walls. Several shelves declare the virtues of something called the "100 Mile Baby."

This soft-edged world hardly seems the birthplace of a new commercial kingdom, but Ali dreams of raising her baby to become a giant. Given her progress so far, she might do it sooner rather than later.

Ali, who has no children, developed the idea for a spa aimed at pregnant women while completing an MBA at the University of Alberta.

Like any image-conscious business person, she says the greater good animates her commercial aspirations. "I thought if you can change the way people feel when they're pregnant, that can, in a small way, change the world."

But the jovial Ali, whose parents founded a pair of firms specializing in industrial chrome plating, also admits her ambition to build Sweet Momma into a titan. "I never really thought, 'I'm going to have this little shop and that's it.' If that was the case, I wouldn't have done it. I don't want to be a spa owner, just operating my spa every day. I'd love to make it really big."

Her ambition runs even beyond just starting one successful franchise. "At some point I'm going to exit and find something new. I could do any business. I've got lots of fire in me left."

Ali joined Accelerator, a sort of social club for aspiring tycoons. Run by the Entrepreneurs' Organization, a network of successful small business people, Accelerator aims to help boost a firm's annual revenue over $1 million, giving the entrepreneur an invitation into EO proper.

The program brings 25 entrepreneurs together four times a year for all-day seminars on aspects of business, like marketing or human resources. The program attracted a wide range of local small businesses, from chiropractors to auto mechanics to clothing retailers to spa owners.

On top of the quarterly sessions, the entrepreneurs meet monthly in smaller "accountability groups," where they set goals and keep up on their peers' progress. An EO member presides over each group, offering advice and guiding discussion.

Stephen Petasky serves as the men-tor for Ali's accountability group. The former Sherwood Park Sobeys franchisee now runs Luxus Group, a luxury real estate equity collective with properties in Mexico, Las Vegas and Italy.

He sees big things in the future for Ali. "Having a business model that has continuous demand for it but almost no supply, she's very well-positioned to be extremely successful," he said. "The opportunity now is at her fingertips to grow to whatever size that she wants to."

Petasky met Ali when Accelerator got started in Edmonton back in September. Lloyd Steier, a professor at the University of Alberta School of Business, was a little more skeptical than Petasky on his first encounter with Ali's aspirations. Ali developed the business case that would eventually become Sweet Momma in a class taught by Steier, who says he looks at thousands of business plans.

"My big question for that one when I saw the business plan was 'Does a market exist?' I wasn't absolutely sure."Steier questioned whether robust demand for spa services tailored to expectant mothers could be found in Edmonton.

Even if it could, the transient nature of the customer base - most would only be in the market for Sweet Momma's services for nine months - presented a serious challenge, he thought. Ali got around this by broadening the range of services she offers. Aspiring mothers can receive massages and acupuncture purporting to increase fertility at Sweet Momma, while stretch-mark treatments and nutritional supplements target the newly no-longer pregnant.

These supplements also play to Ali's background in food science. She retains her enthusiasm for the field despite the change of career, rattling off information about nanotechnology in nutrition and alternatives to gelatin-capsule pills with ease.

As for Steier's concern of insufficient demand, Sweet Momma's growth puts it to rest. A second location in St. Albert opened in 2009, and Ali has courted franchisee pitches from across Western Canada and the U.S.

No potential location has hit the sweet spot yet, but Ali thinks she'll know the right choice for a third location when she sees it. "My guess is that the opportunity will present itself and it will just hap-pen."And while fertility rates in Canada and the United States hover around population replacement levels, the practice of producing more people seems unlikely to die out.

"When I walked in the door," said Steier, "that's when I really got it."New babies drive Ali's business, but pregnancy also presents problems at Sweet Momma. As she puts it, "This last year has been crazy because of my seven pregnancies."Not her personal pregnancies, of course, but those of her employees. "Everyone who works here gets pregnant," said Ali.

More than half of the staff at the south-side location went on maternity leave in 2011. This unique spin on the classic Albertan labour shortage results in a labour surplus of another kind. And the annoying particulars of human reproduction don't limit themselves to employees.

A recent franchise pitch came from a Calgary nurse and her husband. Ali expressed interest. Then she found out about the couple's recent bundle of joy. "She's a nurse and everything, but she just had a baby," Ali said. "You can't have a baby and start a business."

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A 22-YEAR-OLD man has abandoned his pregnant wife for a Thai girl whom he only met several months ago, the Chinese dailies reported. His employer Chok Khoon Chuan said the man from Kuala Lumpur, known only as Ng, had been married in September. He let his wife stay with her parents during her pregnancy.

“Then, he got to know the Thai girl and they started to get close. “Since then, his behaviour has changed tremendously. He became lazy at work and would avoid telling us anything when we tried to advise him,” he was quoted as saying in the newspapers.

Chok, a renovation contractor, said despite having given Ng some work on Dec 26, he had neither seen him nor received any reply. He claimed that Ng had disappeared with the company car a day earlier.

“His neighbour told me that he left home in the car with the girl and their luggage on Christmas morning,” he said. Ng's father said his son had asked him where he could apply for a passport a day before he disappeared.

He had also returned a laptop that he borrowed from his younger brother, he added. > Kwong Wah Yit Poh reported that the government in Fuzhou, the capital of Fujian province, had made it compulsory for buy-ers to register before buying morning after pills.

Buyers must now give their names, phone numbers and identity cards when buying these pills at any pharmacy. The Fuzhou Food and Drug Administration, which implemented the rule, said the move was aimed at protecting women from the harmful misuse of these pills.

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New York: Pregnant women who exercised regularly during the second half of their pregnancies did not lower their odds of developing pregnancy-related diabetes in a new clinical trial. Researchers in Norway found that when they randomly assigned 855 pregnant women to either exercise three times a week or to stick with regular prenatal care alone, the exercisers were no less likely to develop gestational diabetes.

By the third trimester, seven percent of the exercise group had been diagnosed with gestational diabetes, versus six percent of the comparison group. The findings were surprising, according to lead researcher Signe N. Stafne of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim.

For the general population, exercise is considered an important part of preventing and treating type 2 diabetes -- the common form of diabetes that most often arises during middle-age or later. It`s possible, Stafne told a website in an email, that exercise does not have the same effect on gestational diabetes that it does on type 2.

But even if that`s true, Stafne pointed out, there are still reasons for pregnant women to get moderate exercise: including their overall health and keeping their weight gain within the recommended limits.

It`s estimated that up to 14 percent of pregnant women worldwide develop gestational diabetes, in which blood sugar levels rise too high. The condition goes away after childbirth, but it does raise the risk of certain other pregnancy problems -- like having an abnormally large baby, which may require a cesarean delivery.

Women with gestational diabetes are also at greater-than-normal risk of developing type 2 diabetes later in life. While exercise can curb people`s risk of type 2 diabetes, it has not been clear whether it can stave off gestational diabetes.

So for the new study, reported in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology, Stafne`s team randomly assigned 855 pregnant women to either join a supervised exercise program or just continue their usual prenatal care.

All of the women were in their 18th to 22nd week of pregnancy. Those in the exercise program took an hour-long class once a week for 12 weeks -- doing low-impact aerobics, plus strengthening and stretching exercises. They were also given an at-home workout to do twice a week.

In the end, the exercise program showed no effect on gestational diabetes rates. But an obstetrician not involved in the study cautioned that the findings do not mean exercise is no help to pregnant women.

A key issue is that only 55 percent of women in the exercise group actually stuck with their routine, said Dr. Rita W. Driggers, director of the maternal-fetal medicine fellowship program at Washington Hospital Center in Washington, D.C.

What the study more clearly shows is that it`s hard to get pregnant women to exercise regularly, Driggers told Reuters Health in an email -- just as it`s hard to get people in general to exercise, she noted.

She also pointed out that only 13 percent of the women in the study were exercising at a moderate to high intensity three times a week when they entered the study. And that`s the level the exercisers were asked to adopt.

It might have been asking too much for many women, according to Driggers. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists suggests that healthy pregnant women try to be active -- with moderate activities like walking -- for 30 minutes a day on most, if not all, days of the week.

One possible explanation for the new study`s results, Stafne said, is that starting exercise in the second trimester is too late. "It could be that exercise before pregnancy and in early pregnancy is more important, due to the metabolic changes that occur in early pregnancy."

The women in this study were also at relatively low risk for gestational diabetes because they were in the normal weight range, on average, when they entered the study. A study focused on overweight and obese women -- who are at increased risk of gestational diabetes -- might find different results, Stafne said.

In general, the researcher noted, more studies are needed to figure out how to best lower women`s risk of pregnancy-related diabetes. "There are still many unanswered questions regarding gestational diabetes and the prevention of it," Stafne said.

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I’m 18 and have been going out with an older guy – he’s 26 – for about a year. My parents have never got on with him and think he’s a bad influence. Now I think I’m pregnant and don’t know what to do. I don’t feel I can confide in my mum because she doesn’t like my boyfriend and both my parents will hit the roof.  He’s being very sweet and said he’ll support me whatever happens. I just don’t know how to handle my parents – I still live with them.

Coleen says..
Firstly, find out for sure if you’re pregnant. Home pregnancy tests are very accurate, but it would be worth seeing your doctor for a blood test and to date your pregnancy. And you can also discuss with them what your options are.

Now, I’m afraid you have to grow up very quickly – you made the decision to be with this guy and ­also made the decision to have unprotected sex, so you have to be mature enough to deal with the consequences. And that means you have to tell your parents. I really hope they’re understanding, but be prepared for ‘I told you so’.

When I got pregnant with my first child Shane Junior I was only 22 and not married. I was the first in my Catholic family to fall pregnant out of wedlock, so I was scared. So I started by saying “I have something to tell you and I’m really happy about it”. Good luck and open up to your family and friends so they can support you.

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The children of women who smoke while pregnant have significantly thicker and denser arteries, suggests a new study. Thicker arterial walls can increase a person’s risk of developing obesity and heart disease.

Researchers in the Netherlands studied 259 children to determine the effect of smoking on the thickness of their carotid artery and its elasticity. Children of mothers who smoked throughout their pregnancies had significantly thicker and more rigid arteries at five years of age than children whose mothers had not smoked.

The arteries were the thickest in children whose parents had both smoked during pregnancy. In children whose mothers had not smoked in pregnancy but resumed after their birth, the arteries were not found to be thicker. Children were assessed through ultrasound at four weeks of age and then at five years of age. Smoking during pregnancy was defined as smoking a minimum of one cigarette per day for the duration of the entire pregnancy.

Smoking data was determined via questionnaires. "Exposure of children to parental tobacco smoke during pregnancy affects their arterial structure and function in early life," write the authors. "Moreover, there was a clear positive trend between the number of cigarettes smoked by mothers in pregnancy and adverse vascular health, a finding that adds to the credibility of gestational smoking being causally related to offspring vascular damage."

The current study is part of a large population-based birth study that started in December 2001 and is still ongoing. The research is published in Monday's issue of the journal Pediatrics.

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The Abuja home of a senior pastor (names withheld) with one of the new generation churches is in turmoil, following the recent discovery of the pregnancy of the family’s underaged daughter.

Since the discovery, the pastor and his wife, LEADERSHIP SUNDAY gathered, have been experiencing sleepless nights over how to shield their daughter from public glare, after she became pregnant from an alleged rape incident.

The 16-year-old girl, (names withheld), had gone to Kaduna State to sit for the NECO examinations and while there, decided to stay in the home of a close relation. While residing at the relation’s house; a family source who is in the know of the story, explained to LEADERSHIP SUNDAY, that following serious interrogation, the pastor’s daughter said  she had boarded a commercial motorcycle, popularly known as Okada, and asked the rider to take her to the market. But instead of taking her to the market, the rider took a detour and took her into a bush where he, in the company of another okada rider, defiled the girl.

“You know we can’t trust these children of ours nowadays, but I’m only telling you what she told us,” said the relation.

While the incident lasted, the victim, it was further gathered appeared to have made up her mind not to relate the incident to anyone, not even the police, because of the associated stigma involved, should it become public. As a result, she was said to have finished her exams and returned to Abuja to reunite with  her parents who live in Bwari Area Council, where she continued as if nothing ever happened.

But as days progressed into weeks and weeks into months, the victim, it was reported, later found out she was pregnant and began making desperate efforts to abort the pregnancy. Unfortunately, her attempts to terminate the pregnancy failed. She was thus compelled to open up to her parents about the pregnancy three months after, especially after her mother first noticed her changing state of well-being, explaining to them (parents) how the pregnancy came about through a rape.

The shocked parents became dumbfounded and too stunned on how best to handle the matter. Our source said their biggest dilemma was the realisation that the baby their daughter was carrying would  not have a father. Being Christians and serving ministers of the gospel, they concluded that the incident was capable of not just causing disaffection among their church memebers but also affect their daughter psychologically, if they did not protect her from any embarrassment.

As things stand, they are wasting  no time and sparing no efforts to give all their love and support to their daughter. Although there are already side-talks and sneer from certain quarters over the “embarrassing incident.” Another source who simply wants to be addressed as Johnson, and who claims to also be in the know of the incident, noted, “How are we sure the rape story is true What are the proofs that ... (the victim) was truly raped and not that she went after some  boys when she went for her exams, otherwise, should’nt she have confided in somebody?”

Others pointed out that it would be inconceivable for a woman to be raped and yet, keeps it to herself. They noted that the after rape trauma and the fear that the rapist may have infected such persons withdangerous viruses and bacteria are some of the reasons why this may be difficult to conceal. “I still find it very hard to believe. How could she be telling that type of story and everyone is taking it hook, line and sinker.”

The victim’s parents, LEADERSHIP SUNDAY meanwhile gathered, have taken the first step of taking their daughter to a private hospital where she was said to have been examined and to their relief, found to be HIV free. The next plan of the parents, it was learnt, is to relocate her to a place where nobody will be able to readily know her.

According to the parents who after some persuassion, eventuallyagreed to speak with LEADERHIP SUNDAY, “It was the only way to rehabilitate her before she puts to bed.” The father, also disclosed that the daughter was a bright girl who had already passed her UME examination and was about to gain admission into the university to study law, added that, it was for this reason we are determined to protect and salvage her future. we don’t know who is who and her future matters to us as her parents.”

The father also disclosed that since the incident he had not stopped crying and asking himself why such an ugly fate would befall his last child, He said why he was helpless was because the girl did not immediately raise the alarm so as to enable her guardians in Kaduna to have taken up the case and reported the matter to the police earlier than now.

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CHENNAI: When 28-year-old Sundari (name changed) from Nagercoil was six months into her pregnancy, she started having chest pain and breathlessness. Doctors suspected weak heart and lungs. But scans showed a significant part of her right half of the diaphragm - a muscular sheet between the chest and the abdomen - was pushed up by the liver, compressing the right lung and the heart.

Doctors in Nagercoil told her that the condition was dangerous and her fetus could be affected. She was referred to LifeLine Multi Specialty Hospital, Chennai. On December 21, a team of doctors performed a surgery on her. Doctors avoided the usual, abdominal approach to correct this condition as it carried a high risk of losing the baby. Surgeons operated upon her through the chest.

"The baby's heartbeat was monitored during the surgery and for a day later," said surgical gasteroentologist Dr J S Rajkumar. Though the patient is normal, gynaecologist Dr Padmapriya has advised a caesarean section when she completes her term.

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Susannah McKenzie's condition, called a myxoma, is thought to be the first of its kind to be treated in the UK, and only the fifth in the world. Susannah, 32, was pregnant with her second child - who was due on Christmas Day - when she was diagnosed with the potentially fatal heart tumour.

Now she and husband Andy have thanked the team of almost 40 specialists at Oxford's John Radliffe Hospital who performed a ground-breaking procedure to deliver the baby boy by caesarean and then remove Susannah's deadly tumour. The myxoma was spotted at the Great Western Hospital in Swindon when Susannah was 29 weeks into her pregnancy.

The 3cm mass, which hovered around the left atrium of her heart, put her at immediate risk of suffering a stroke, killing her and her unborn baby. Great Western Hospital immediately sought the expertise of John Radcliffe's consultant cardiologist Dr Oliver Ormerod and cardiac surgeon Professor Stephen Westaby, who have worked together for almost 25 years.

Dr Ormerod said "This was an incredibly rare problem - none of us had ever seen a heart tumour in a pregnant woman before and we are not aware of any other case in England ever. There are only a few reports of it around the world."Professor Westaby said "This was an incredibly serious and potentially catastrophic problem. If it had been handled incorrectly, both mother and baby would have died."Usually a myxoma would be treated as a surgical emergency - if it breaks into pieces, it can cause a stroke and kill instantly.

But Susannah was too early into her pregnancy to have surgery and risk losing her baby. Instead she was given powerful anti-coagulation drugs until 32 weeks into the pregnancy. Then, under the watchful eye of a 25-strong team made up of anaesthetists, cardiologists, and surgeons, baby Felix Oliver James McKenzie was born by C section in a cardiac theatre at the Oxford Heart Centre. Susannah was given a few days to bond with her miracle baby, before herself being taken for heart surgery on November 7th.

Susannah, of Fairford, Glos, said it felt like a natural "thank you" to name her son Oliver after Dr Ormerod.
She added "As I settle down to enjoy Christmas with our lovely new baby Felix, I'm just so grateful for all the people who have made this possible.

"I've had wonderful care from so many doctors and nurses at both the JR also the Great Western Hospital. In particular, Oliver Ormerod looked after me throughout this process and made this whole experience a manageable one. "None of it was scary. I had people holding both hands. After Felix was born, I think I had to keep my emotions under control because I needed to get better myself. Felix is beautiful and growing nicely. He's now six and a half pounds. I'm so grateful."

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