A woman from Wythenshawe has fulfilled her life-long dream of becoming a mother thanks to a specialised maternity bereavement service in Manchester.
Georgina Gale, aged 32, had always wanted to be a mother. However, this has been a difficult 12-year-journey due to complications from multiple pregnancies which have caused her devastation and heartbreak. Thanks to the support of the service, she has just welcomed her third child into the world.
The Rainbow Clinic at Wythenshawe Hospital helps women like Georgina who have experienced a stillbirth or neonatal death, through their subsequent pregnancies. The specialised service provides personalised care with additional ultrasound scans to address the cause of loss alongside psychological support.
Georgina said: “In 2011, I became pregnant with my first child, and I was really poorly. I think it was because I was so young and under a lot of stress. I lost a lot of weight, and I struggled to eat and drink”.
Tragically, 12 weeks into her pregnancy, staff at Wythenshawe Hospital found that her baby was suffering from Hydrops fetalis – a rare life-threatening condition in which abnormal amounts of fluid are found in an unborn or newborn baby.
Georgina said: “I was told that my baby only had a 1% chance of survival. I was induced at 27 weeks, and my son, Jacob, was born sleeping on 31 January 2012.
“I was just 19 when I lost Jacob. Looking back now, I was really young, and I don’t know how I dealt with it emotionally. Because I had never been pregnant before, I didn’t know any different and I didn’t know what to base my feelings on”.
Sadly, in 2016, Georgina had an early miscarriage six weeks into a subsequent pregnancy, followed by another in 2017, where she found that she miscarried at 14 weeks when her ultrasound scan didn’t detect a heartbeat.
After her third pregnancy, medics conducted testing where they identified that her baby had Turner syndrome – a female only genetic disorder that affects 1 in 2000 baby girls – which caused the loss of her baby.
Georgina said: “Because it happened so early on in my pregnancy, I didn’t know the sex of the baby. When I was told that she had Turner syndrome, this was the only way that I knew she was a girl – so I called her Addalyn.
“The tests showed that there was no reason for this to be happening to me; that they were just flukes, and I was unlucky. Being a mum was all I ever wanted, but this was now my third pregnancy, so I was absolutely destroyed”.
In September 2017, Georgina became pregnant again and was referred to the Rainbow Clinic.
She added: “As you can imagine, because I had struggled so much in my pregnancies, I was very worried and anxious. I was having scans every two to three weeks and I was terrified at every single one.
“Everyone at the Rainbow Clinic was brilliant with me. They listened to every worry, even the silly ones, and understood exactly what I was going through. Every conversation I had, I was taking a load off my chest, and I felt lighter”.
Finally, in March 2018, Georgina gave birth to her first child, Harper. “It was an amazing feeling to finally become a mum. My daughter was six years in the making!”.
Within a year, Georgina welcomed her second child, Romie, in February 2019. Like her pregnancy with Harper, she was closely monitored by the Rainbow Clinic throughout. She said: “The specialist care that I got never changed, and my second pregnancy was treated just as special as my first”.
Georgina met her partner Johnny, and she made the decision to have a third child. In April 2023, she suffered another early miscarriage at six weeks, however it was too early on to detect any issues.
By February 2024, she was pregnant again and told that they were going to have a baby boy – 12 years after Georgina lost Jacob. She said: “It was so exciting to hear that I was finally having a boy, however, I put a lot of pressure on myself. As it got closer to my due date, I was having weekly scans and check-ups, and that anxiety never left me”.
In October, Georgina’s third child, Jesse, was born. She said: “Jesse is doing great; he loves a cuddle and, because of what I’ve been through, I am extra protective over him.
“At the moment, I have no plans for a fourth child – but I never want to say never. I spent a really long time stressing about pregnancy so now I want to enjoy motherhood.
“I’m just so lucky to have three healthy, perfect children and even though it’s been a long and hard journey, I’d do it all again for them”.
Elaine Church, Consultant Obstetrician and Lead for Rainbow Clinic at Wythenshawe Hospital, said: “For women like Georgina who have experienced multiple pregnancy losses at different stages, the specialist and individualised multidisciplinary care from the Rainbow Clinic team really helps to ease the family’s anxieties. The continuity and regular check-ups are not only appreciated by the family but have been demonstrated to improve outcomes.
“At Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, we have a Rainbow Clinic at all three of our maternity units, which includes Wythenshawe, Saint Mary’s Hospital and North Manchester. This means that women across the area have great access to this vital support and care.
“Georgina and her family are very special to me. I have told her this myself. I’m so happy that she now has a wonderful family and I am extremely honoured to have been involved in bringing Harper, Romie and Jesse into the world safely. It is always great to hear that the hard work and compassion of the team makes such a difference and has a positive impact on so many people”.