As mums, all we want is for our children to be happy and healthy.

 

Sadly, however, sometimes things happen that are entirely out of our control, even before our little ones are born - something Amy Swift has first-hand experience of. 

 

The mum-of-one, from Jarrow, Tyne and Wear, gave birth to her gorgeous baby boy, Theo, in January 2015.

 

However, Theo was born with shoulder dystocia which is where his right shoulder got stuck when he was being delivered.

 

Due to nerve damage, the little boy has a paralysed left arm and is unable to bend his elbow.

 

Thankfully, he has regained some lifting movements.

 

 

Talking about her son, Amy said that he is happy and healthy and is finding his own way to lift, move and play.

 

The 26-year-old, who married her husband Kenny just last month, said she has received great support, including from the specialist unit in Leeds where he gets treatment and the local Erb's Palsy Group. 

 

Amy is now keen to raise awareness of the importance of safer births, and is asking the NHS to have "more specialist training and more awareness for staff" of shoulder dystocia. 

 

And she is not alone.

 

In fact, as part of the Government’s drive to make the NHS the safest place in the world to give birth, Jeremy Hunt has announced that he will look into enabling coroners to investigate full-term stillbirths to help give parents answers and resolution when something has gone wrong.

 

 

The Government will also bring from 2030 to 2025 the ambition to halve rates of stillbirths, neonatal and maternal deaths and brain injuries occurring during or soon or after birth – a move which would save more than 4,000 thousand lives.

 

In a major speech focusing on maternity safety, the Health Secretary will announce the Government’s intention to look closely into enabling, for the first time, full-term stillbirths to be covered by coronial law.

 

As part of plans to give grieving parents a better, more comprehensive explanation of what went wrong in their own situation, hundreds of stillbirth, early neonatal death and severe brain injury cases each year will be referred to the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch, the new NHS safety investigator led by safety experts.

 

images via Shutterstock. 

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