Eastbourne parents reflect on daughter's premature birth

Zara McNally arrived on November 20 2014 at 24 weeks. She was immediately whisked away into an incubator and for the first 12 days, her parents – Neil and Suzie – couldn’t even touch her. She weighed a mere 540g, little more than a small bag of rice.

Suzie said: “Her skin was paper thin – you could see through it. You could fit her in the palm of your hand. I remember looking at her nails and thinking they looked like pixels on a picture, they were so dinky.”

Suzie was blue lit to the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton after doctors discovered that she had an infection in her waters and that her amniotic fluid had been reducing.

Suzie said: “It was pretty hair-raising. We were briefed to expect the worst. We didn’t know whether we would have a baby at the end of it.

“I remember thinking, how am I going to give birth to this tiny baby – I didn’t know how it would work.”

After an “awful few days” and ten hours of labour, doctors performed a caesarean and Zara was born.

Zara was so small when she was born that she could fit in the palm of a hand (Image: Supplied) She spent three months at the Trevor Mann special care baby unit in Brighton followed by one month at the Conquest in St Leonards. She was only allowed home to Eastbourne once she weighed 4lb.

Suzie said: “It was an emotional rollercoaster. We were desperate to get her home but terrified at the same time. The nurses were incredible, and she was so strong – she kept fighting.”

Finally, Suzie and Neil, who have an older son called Jack, were able to take Zara home, four days before her original due date of March 8.

The family have stayed in touch with the “amazing nursing team” at Trevor Mann and try to visit them each year to show their gratitude and to give Zara an understanding of “how she came into the world”.

Zara's parents say she is one of the most determined people we know (Image: Supplied) Zara, who will turn ten this month, loves to wear hats and earmuffs. Suzie said: “I think it’s because she always had to wear a hat as a baby. You can’t get a hat off her – she even wore her earmuffs when we were on holiday in Greece. She likes to have her feet and head touching something – I think it’s to do with the security of being in an incubator.

“She is the strongest and most determined person we know. She is a real fighter.”