Blackrod parents thank Royal Bolton Hospital for saving baby girl

Willow Brown is now a healthy and happy six-month-old but when she was born her heart was beating at an incredible 200 plus beats a minute.

Mum Georgina Unsworth from Blackrod gave birth to Willow Brown on October 16 in 2023 but was told the distressing news that her baby had an atrial heart flutter and the baby was subsequently rushed to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at Royal Bolton Hospital.

An atrial heart flutter is an abnormal heart rhythm, which causes the upper chambers of the heart to beat too quickly and can be fatal if not treated.

Following from a routine midwife appointment, Georgina was asked to go to the hospital as the baby's heart rate had become increasingly high.

Within 20 minutes she was told she needed an emergency C-section. However, within an hour of her being born, professionals quickly noticed something was wrong.

The following day, they were told their baby’s heart rate was extremely high and there were no signs of it coming down.

It was confirmed that our baby had an atrial flutter in her heart, causing it to beat extremely fast. The team quickly decided to save their daughter's life was to conduct a cardioversion procedure on her at just 24 hours old

A cardioversion is the use of defibrillator and electric shock pads to restart the heart.

Georgina said: “After I gave birth, one of the midwives noticed that she was grunting.

“The NICU nurse got her on an ECG and her heart was beating at over 200 beats per minute at some point.

“I was not quite with it until I got down there to NICU myself.

“When I saw all the babies in incubators, I just prepared myself for the worst.”

The cardioversion lasted only five minutes, but Georgina said: “It was the longest five minutes of my life.

“They brought her heart rate back down, it’s mental how they can do that.

“It’s just a case of keeping an eye on her now.”

A week later, Georgina and her partner Dan Brown were allowed to spend a night with Willow while she underwent tests to see if could breathe and feed on her own and was discharged the very next day.

Georgina said: “It was a big relief because I never thought we would come home with her, I had prepared myself to go home without her, so the fact we brought her through the door, was everything we could have wished for.”

READ MORE: Royal Bolton Hospital Neonatal Unit achieves prestigious award

READ MORE: Girl, 5, huge thanks to Royal Bolton Hospital

READ MORE: Bury mum praises Royal Bolton Hospital for care of premature daughter

The couple have also raised £3,000 for the NICU, with nurses who cared for Willow were invited as guests of honour at the fundraising events.

Georgina said: “The staff were just incredible and could not have done more for us.

“We wanted to give back in any way that we can because of how amazing they were.”

To donate to the page, visit the website. (https://www.gofundme.com/f/to-help-raise-money-for-royal-bolton-nicu)

Georgina said: “The staff were just incredible and could not have done more for us.

“We wanted to give back in any way that we can because of how amazing they were.”

Writing on the fundraising page, Georgina said: "Each and every person that looked after Willow, day and night, took care of her with so much love and compassion.

"Not only looking after Willow, they also provided emotional support to us as parents and for that we are eternally grateful.

"As they did so much for myself and my family, me and Dan thought it was only right that we try and give something back in return.

"I would like to raise as much money as possible for the unit so any donations would be much appreciated. Thank you all so much for helping to raise money for such an amazing cause."