Baby girl born at 22 weeks ‘thriving’ after 15 months in hospital after doctors said she ‘wouldn’t make it’

A mum who was told her baby “wouldn’t make it” after she was born at just 22 weeks and six days is now home and thriving after 15 months in hospital. Maysa Hussain, weighed 500g - 1lb and 1.6oz - when mum Kamilah Parvez, 27, went into labour four months early.

Maysa went into cardiac arrest three times two months after birth and had to have 10cm of her bowel removed due to influenza when she was just eight months old. But after 15 months in various hospitals - where overcoming all these hurdles - she finally arrived home and is now "thriving".

Kamilah, a full-time carer, from Birmingham, West Midlands, said fighter Maysa has become a "little diva". She said: "My pregnancy was normal to start with. It was a spontaneous labour.

"I went to hospital because I had a bleed. They told me I was 2cm dilated and she had a 7% survival rate. The doctors kept asking me if we were sure we wanted to continue with the pregnancy.

"We were told if she was born and not breathing that they would not resuscitate her. Since then she has been thriving and we are so proud of her."

Kamilah and her husband, Atif Hussain, 27, a department manager, found out they were expecting their first child in January 2021. After a textbook pregnancy to start with, Kamilah started bleeding and went to Birmingham Women’s Hospital.

Kamilah said: "I remember when they told me the survival rate and I just thought how I can’t lose her. We really tried with this pregnancy, in my head I was so upset and I just couldn’t lose her.

"I was in the labour ward for a day and the same night my waters broke and I was rushed down. We both got very poorly and doctors told me if she wasn’t breathing when she was born they wouldn’t resuscitate her."

Maysa was born the following day at 10.30am, on June 2 2021. Kamilah was able to cuddle her for five minutes and then Maysa was rushed to the NICU.

Maysa spent three months in the NICU to recover and grow. Maysa was then transferred to Birmingham Children’s Hospital on September 12, 2021 so that doctors could successfully remove her breathing tube where she spent five months in the PICU and a further seven months on a ward.

Kamilah said: "We didn’t know she would pull through or how long she would last. Since she was born we took it a day at a time. We never looked into the future and never gave ourselves that hope."

While she was in the Birmingham Children’s Hospital, Maysa caught influenza and had three cardiac arrests due to her breathing tubes dislodging, her mum said. Kamilah said: "She caught it off another child on the ward.

"This caused an infection in her gut. We were told she would need emergency surgery and she might not pull through. She had 10cm of her bowel removed and we were told to say our goodbyes. We said we wouldn’t sit around the hospital as we would be thinking the worst.

"We went off into town to distract ourselves but even then all we could think about was her. We were waiting for that dreaded phone call to tell us she didn’t make it."

Kamilah said Maysa went from strength to strength and they were able to take her home on September 12, 2022. Kamilah said: "It was an amazing feeling, in my head I always said I would take it a day at a time but I always looked forward to taking her home.

"At one point I didn’t think I would ever be able to take her home. Since she has been home she has been thriving. She is a little diva, honestly, everyone loves her she makes people smile.

"We are still behind on development as she was premature, she isn’t able to talk and is non-verbal but she has the biggest personality - we are so proud."