Story 13 January 2019

Kathryn's story

Kathryn was 28 weeks in to her second pregnancy when she was told there were complications with her pregnancy and her daughter would need to be delivered early. For the next five weeks Kathryn was supported by the team at King’s and her baby Immy arrived seven weeks early at 33 weeks. Immy was cared for in King’s neonatal intensive care ward (NICU), which looks after babies who are born prematurely and need specialist care.
Photo of a mother holding her young child at King's

Finally, after five long weeks, Immy was able to leave the intensive care unit. Kathryn says:

“During the final weeks of my pregnancy and for the first few months of our daughter’s life, we were heavily reliant on the team at King’s and their expertise, knowledge and experience. Nothing can prepare you for having a premature baby and as a family we were hugely grateful for the care we have all received.”


To say thank you for the care Kathryn and Immy received, Kathryn decide to fundraise for the NICU ward at King’s.

"I chose to support King’s College Hospital Charity in the hope that whatever I was able to raise would be spent to make those in NICU (babies and their families) a little more comfortable. I wanted to be able to give something back.”
Kathryn

Kathryn has raised close to £3,800 taking part in the RideLondon event last summer. A 100 mile bike ride through London and Surrey following the Olympic route from London 2012, it is an event Kathryn had previously participated in back in 2014. 

“This seemed an obvious choice as my husband took part in 2017 on the first weekend we had Immy home from hospital. We went along to support him and the atmosphere was amazing. At that point in time I didn’t feel physically or mentally capable of thinking of much more than Immy and trying to recover myself. To set a goal of taking part 12 months on from there really appealed to me – the thought of getting back on the bike, exercising and building up some fitness again was what I wanted to do.”

“The care we received from the staff throughout pregnancy and from our daughter’s birth, discharge and follow up care since she was born has been brilliant. We’ve had numerous check-ups and also some A&E visits where she has been seen very quickly. The care and support has been thorough and not just for Immy but for myself too. We feel that if we need to contact anyone with questions or concerns that we could and that is hugely reassuring.”
Kathryn

Immy is now developing well. Kathryn says:

“Immy is doing brilliantly – she still has various check-ups with the team at King’s and the two year mark is a big milestone for premature babies in terms of catching up with their peers’ developmentally.”