A mum says doctors believed her baby had died in the womb three times prior to her birth – but against all odds, the tot is here and thriving.
Geriiee Lamb was bleeding regularly throughout her pregnancy and claims medical professionals said that, due to the amount of blood loss, the foetus would not have survived.
The 27-year-old claims she was even asked to take an abortion pill to “get rid of the rest”.
But the mum had a gut feeling that her little one was still alive and insisted on an ultrasound scan – which found her baby’s heart beating and healthy.
Incredibly, the rest of Geriiee’s pregnancy was smooth-sailing until she delivered Romy-Rae early, weighing just 2lbs 3oz.
The tiny tot had to fight for her life in the NICU, where she spent 80 days building up strength.
Despite her rough start to life, the now one-year-old is doing great and leaves her doting mum “in absolute awe” every day.
“It was the hardest time of my life,” Geriiee, a stay-at-home mum from Yorkshire, told Need To Know.
“Throughout the pregnancy, I was bleeding on and off, which was scary.
“I was told three times by the hospital that she had actually passed away before them even scanning me, due to the amount of blood I was losing – I was 10 weeks pregnant at the time.
“It was horrific to hear, absolutely soul-destroying.
“I was [also] told to take an abortion tablet to get rid of the rest of the ‘product’ – which was inhumane, to say the least.
“But deep down, I knew my baby was still alive inside me.
“Call it intuition or mother’s instinct – something told me not to take that tablet.
“Instead, I fought to get a scan.
“Deep inside me, I knew something was wrong – but I also knew she was alive.”
During the ultrasound, doctors noticed that Geriiee had a haemorrhage underneath her baby, which was causing the blood loss.
While the mum didn’t require further treatment, the rest of her pregnancy was fraught with concerns and, when she hit 26 weeks in October 2023, terror struck again.
Geriiee said: “I woke up one morning and my plug had gone, so I went to the hospital and they examined me and told me I was 10cm dilated with bulging membranes [a sign of impending delivery].
“They told me my baby was coming and quickly transferred me in an ambulance to another hospital.
“I was exhausted mentally and physically, and so frightened.
“There were more than 10 doctors in the room giving me large needle injections, and everyone was running around – it was all so much.”
When she arrived, Geriiee was given steroids and other things to help her baby’s lungs ‘bud’ and to give her the best chance of survival.
She was able to stay there for six days on bed rest, though her waters burst four days in.
Doctors found she had a prolapsed umbilical cord, an emergency which occurs when the cord comes out of the uterus before or alongside the baby’s presenting part.
Geriiee said: “They told me they had 13 minutes to get me down to theatre and get Romy out before she lost her oxygen supply, and they told me she was also breach.”
The terrified mum was put to sleep while physicians did an emergency C-section to deliver her daughter.
Geriiee woke up 12 hours later to find her baby had been rushed to the NICU.
She said: “I was terrified and didn’t know what to expect.
“I was wheeled down in a chair, absolutely petrified to see what I was about to walk into.
“It was so overwhelming with all the tubes and wires and sounds.
“I saw my little tiny baby in an incubator fighting for every breath.
“[They told me] she was worked on for a whole five minutes to bring her back to life as soon as she was born due to her weak lungs.”
Despite the scare, Romy went from strength to strength during her time in hospital.
Her mum said: “She responded so well to every medication and had a pretty smooth ride from there.
“I remember the first time putting her in a little vest, and even in the NICU I used to dress her in frilly clothes and all the nurses and doctors absolutely loved seeing her.
“She brought colour and a smile to people’s faces in a really difficult place.”
The tot was finally brought home in January 2024.
Geriiee said: “It was amazing to have her home, although she was so tiny and fragile.
“I was nervous with every little thing, but I absolutely loved having her home – it was like she’d never not been there.”
Despite the mistake early on in her pregnancy, Geriiee decided against complaining and said she is “so grateful” to the NHS.
She said: “I owe everything to the doctors and nurses – they saved my daughter’s life and for that, I’m forever grateful.”
These days, Geriiee likes to dress Romy up in outlandish outfits and place intricate bows on her head.
She added: “Maybe this is why I’m so over the top with that sort of thing – because I thought I was going to lose her.
“I’ll never not let her be extra until the day she tells me, but by then I’m hoping she won’t want to be a sheep – she’ll be a leader!
“I am always in absolute awe of her.
“I’ve never known someone so small to be so strong.”
