- Esmé Byrne is one of the smallest babies to receive a pacemaker
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She was just seven days old when she was fitted with a pacemaker the size of an AAA battery and now, 19 months later, little Esmé Byrne is thriving.
Doctors had to place the small device in his stomach instead of his collarbone after he weighed just 5lb 2oz, and he is one of the youngest and smallest babies to have a pacemaker fitted.
Her mother Rae Dawson had been offered an abortion when they discovered Esmé’s heart condition during a routine pregnancy scan.
Now she is making strides and will be the flower girl with her two-year-old sister Amelia at their parents’ wedding next year.
Esmé was diagnosed with complete heart block at 20 weeks pregnant. While blood is pumping properly to the heart, it only pumps at half its speed, causing the heart rate to drop dangerously.
Rae Dawson with her daughter Esme Byrne, who was fitted with a pacemaker the size of an AAA battery when she was just 7 days old.
Esme is one of the smallest babies to have a pacemaker
Esme appears here at the hospital after having her pacemaker inserted.
Miss Dawson’s own body was attacking her unborn baby’s heart. Autoimmune diseases (including lupus) that Miss Dawson had previously suffered from were responsible.
Recalling when they found out about Esmé’s condition, Miss Dawson, 28, said: “The sonographer ran the scanner over my stomach and then went silent and continued looking at the screen.
“He asked me to move a little to get the baby moving and then he said his heart rate was very low.
‘He came back to another doctor who confirmed he had a low heart rate.
‘We were sent to another local hospital who confirmed I had this condition. It was devastating.
“They offered us an abortion because they said she might not survive, but we were determined to give her every chance we could.”
Esmé was diagnosed with complete heart block at 20 weeks pregnant
Miss Dawson, pictured with Esme, said doctors offered to terminate her daughter’s pregnancy because they said she might not survive, but she decided against it.
Mrs Dawson is pictured with Esme and her other daughter Amelia.
Miss Dawson was referred to a cardiologist for weekly scans.
She said: ‘I was petrified going into each scan as I didn’t know what they would find.
“Each time his heart beat three times slower than it should be.”
Esmé was born in September 2022 and left the hospital a week after having the pacemaker inserted.
The battery will need to be replaced in a few years, when it is four or five years old.