The parents of one of Britain’s smallest babies are celebrating having finally brought her home after she spent her entire young life in hospital.
Robyn weighed just over 11 ounces when she arrived on March 8, 2023, making her the smallest baby ever born in Wales.
Born at Cwmbran’s Grange Hospital, Robyn was intubated and placed in a sandwich bag to keep her vital organs warm as she grew.
Her parents, Daniel and Chantelle Chambers, from Newport, said it was a “dream come true” to take their “little warrior” home more than a year after Robyn was born.
Due to his small size and condition, he has lived in hospital since he was born 18 months ago, even celebrating his first birthday at the Grange.
After 18 months in the hospital, Robyn finally returned home to her parents, Daniel and Chantelle Chambers.
Robyn weighed just over 11 ounces when she arrived on March 8, 2023, making her the smallest baby ever born in Wales.
Robyn celebrated her first birthday at Grange Hospital in Cwmbran, Wales, where she was born.
Six months after her birth, Robyn was moved for seven months to the pediatric intensive care unit at Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospital in Cardiff, before returning to the Grange until she was discharged in September.
Chantelle, 34, expressed her relief at being able to bring her daughter home after her long experience in hospital, including Robyn contracting a near-fatal lung infection.
She said: “We were so excited to bring her home – it was like a dream come true, after all the time we spent in hospital it seemed like it was never going to happen.”
“We almost lost her in May, and it was a really tough time when she got a chest infection, but she’s gotten stronger since then.”
“Over the last three months she really made good progress and recovered enough for us to bring her home,” he continued.
Chantelle recalled doing “12-hour shifts” at the hospital after Robyn’s birth, explaining that the husband and wife duo only saw each other “one or two hours a day” but that at home they are “more of a family.” . ‘ now.
Robyn has a complex medical history and has been diagnosed with numerous conditions, meaning she requires 24-hour care, which is currently provided by her parents.
He has stage three hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), cerebral palsy, epilepsy and severe apnea (obstructive and central) and is fed through a nasogastric tube.
Robyn was intubated and placed in a sandwich bag to keep her vital organs warm as she grew.
Robyn has a complex medical history and has been diagnosed with numerous conditions, meaning she requires 24-hour care.
Chantelle recalled doing “12-hour shifts” at the hospital after Robyn’s birth, explaining that the husband-wife duo only saw each other “for one or two hours a day.”
Robyn’s parents are raising much-needed funds to pay for Robyn’s essential treatments, therapies and equipment needed to assist in her development.
Chantelle explained that she had a normal pregnancy and there were no signs that she would give birth to a premature baby.
She said: “I went for my 20-week scan and everything was fine with Robyn at the time.
“They said the baby looked fine, but my cervix was starting to open slightly, which obviously meant I might go into labor quite early.”
“I was kept in hospital after my 20-week scan just in case I went into labour, then it came three weeks later.
“It’s been very difficult: it’s my first child and you wouldn’t expect something like that to happen to you.”
After Robyn’s birth, doctors said she had a “very slim chance” of surviving.
Chantelle added: “They were really surprised because they had never seen a baby that small.”
‘They said it was new to them and they didn’t know how she would develop and how she would develop in the womb.
“The whole time we were in the hospital they were not very optimistic; only in the last few months did they change their mind.”
Robyn’s parents are raising much-needed funds to pay for Robyn’s essential treatments, therapies and equipment to assist in her development.
While in the hospital, he fought an incredible battle that included going off the ventilator multiple times, contracting sepsis, receiving 16 blood transfusions, undergoing spinal taps, and undergoing abdominal surgery.
They want to be able to provide you with regular and consistent therapies and they want you to attend intensive therapy courses.
You will need specialized equipment, such as tricycles, wheelchairs and seats, to allow you to develop as much as possible.
Chantelle said all the attention for Robyn is “very expensive” and they are hoping to raise £100,000.
‘We haven’t been able to raise a lot of funds ourselves because we’ve been in hospital, but we’ve had a lot of friends and family who have organized fundraising events and managed to raise a lot.
“We are very grateful to everyone who has donated so far.”