Black Country woman who lost 18 children petitions Downing Street in law change bid

Kerry Hutchison, aged 33, from Tividale in Oldbury, suffered from cervical cancer several years ago and said the treatments she underwent have made it difficult for her to carry children to term.

She says that she wants parents to have the right to demand medical assistance for babies born before 24 weeks.

She said: "Here if you carry a child past 24 weeks then the hospital is obligated to help you because the child is considered 'viable'.

"However if the child is born before 24 weeks then there is no obligation because the hospital does not expect the child to live."

Medical guidelines, drawn up by the Nuffield Council, state that babies should not be given intensive care if they are born before 23 weeks.

However, it is down to individual trusts to make the final call. The limit is 24 weeks at Walsall Manor Hospital where Kerry was treated. However in Liverpool it is 22 weeks, with Stoke putting the limit at 23 weeks.

Mrs Hutchison said that mothers who give birth to premature children are not supported and a 'do not resuscitate' order is placed on the child.

If a baby is born and dies before 24 weeks by law it is not given a birth certificate.

"Babies do survive before 24 weeks and there is record of that," Mrs Hutchison said. "If the baby is born with a heartbeat and is alive then it should be up to the parents to say 'yes we want to try and keep our baby alive'.

"I lost one of my children, Lucas, at 22 weeks and although he took a breath and wasn't stillborn I had to fight to get him a birth certificate."

Miss Hutchison's petition calls for standardised regulations across the country for premature birth and eventually for the threshold to be lowered to 22 weeks.

She said: "The legal limit where a hospital is obligated to support a premature child is 24 weeks here but it is a postcode lottery as the limit differs throughout the country.

"It is devastating to lose a child early but the right support is not being given to mothers which can make everything so much worse."

Miss Hutchison said she plans to take the petition, which has now received 1,200 signatures online, to Downing Street.

The petition also calls for the government to support research into a condition known a Pre-term Pre-labour Rupture of the Membrane (PPROM), which is a premature breaking of the waters during pregnancy. Miss Hutchison lost two of her children to the condition.

"There is a group of doctors who are looking into stem cell research which can help women with PPROM," Miss Hutchison said. "It will be a few more years before it is ready but it is estimated that one cell donor could help over 1,000 women."

Miss Hutchison also took part in a skydive in September to raise awareness for the condition.

Miss Hutchison said: "I know I will never be able to help every mum but just being able to save a few from the heartbreak I have suffered would be enough."

Miss Hutchison's skydive has already raised over £400, but anybody interested in donating to the cause can do so by texting LUCA87 to 70070 or by visiting www.justgiving.com/Lucas-legacy/