A mum was "branded inhumane" by doctors for not aborting her twins after her waters broke 16 weeks into pregnancy – but BOTH are now healthy tots.
Hannah Morris, 27, was devastated when she lost her amniotic fluid just 16 weeks after falling pregnant with twins and claims that doctors repeatedly urged her to abort.
But the brave mum-of-three says she acted on a "gut instinct" and refused to follow the doctors’ advice – and is now proud mum to two-year-olds George and Alfie King.
Hannah was diagnosed with preterm premature rupture of the membranes (PPROM) when her first amniotic sac burst at 16 weeks and second around three weeks later.
She claims an untreated E. coli infection may have caused her waters to break 24 weeks early.
Both children were left vulnerable to infection in the womb and doctors reportedly said it was unlikely their vital organs would develop properly and their limbs would be stuck together.
Hannah claims that doctors recommended terminating her pregnancy as a "get out clause" to treating the babies.
She is now speaking out to call for better education for doctors and awareness for the public on the pregnancy complication.
Hannah, from Washington, Tyne and Wear, said: "The negativity from the NHS was absolutely abominal."
She added: "A lot of the doctors had not go a clue what to do with me.
"It was like it was their get out clause to say ‘have a termination’ because it was easier to say get rid of the babies than to actually treat PPROM.
"There needs to be more education and they need to be taught what to do.
"The compassion that they had in that situation was so cold and so negative that when I was trying to fight for my babies lives it felt like they didn’t care.
"I understand the NHS is under massive strain and they’re trying to make savings, but I was trying to save my babies.
"I wasn’t given a leaflet, I wasn’t given any advice or counselling. Nothing like that was provided. I had to sort out help on my own.
"For somebody else who is maybe a little less savvy or emotional and can’t deal with the situation as well, they wouldn’t necessarily go and look for help.
"You trust your doctor and what they say to you you think is going to be the right option. You trust the medical professionals that are looking after you.
"They completely failed me. If I had listened to these people I would have terminated my pregnancy and my sons wouldn’t be here today. It’s devastating."
Hannah and her partner Mark King, 30, were over the moon when they found out that they were going to have twins in January 2016.
A urine sample taken at Hannah’s 12-week scan revealed that the mum-to-be had an asymptomatic E. coli infection but she claims that she was not treated with antibiotics.
After her waters broke for the first time, Hannah claims she was rushed to Bolton Royal Hospital and the couple were heartbroken when they were warned that neither child had any chance of surviving.
Hannah, who is a stay-at-home mum, said: "I had an internal examination and the doctor told me that my waters had broken, and he was really sorry but there was nothing they could do for us.
"I asked a million questions, can the other baby survive? Can it reseal?
"They said, ‘no, there was a 100 per cent chance that this baby won’t survive, you need to have to have some medicine to induce labour, it’s your only option’.
"For some reason, I don’t know why, I didn’t want to do that. My gut was telling me not to follow the advice.
"I said ‘if I am going to lose them I lose them naturally and I’ll let nature take its course’.
"The doctor left me in this side room and not one single doctor or nurse or healthcare professional came in this room for 48 hours.
"They just left me and my partner to miscarry our children."
After two days of waiting in hospital to miscarry, a scan revealed that both babies appeared healthy and the couple were sent home.
Hannah turned to voluntary organisation Little Heartbeats for support and decided to put herself on bedrest to give her babies the best chance of survival.
She would lose water every time she moved and found even simple tasks such as going to the toilet extremely difficult.
She avoided baths and drank up to eight litres of water a day to keep her water supplies as replenished as possible.
Hannah said: "A week after I was first in hospital I had a follow-up appointment and we met with a doctor who put a care plan in place for us but told us if they got to 24 weeks, which is viability, their limbs would be stuck to their bodies.
"[They told us] their lungs won’t be developed and their kidneys won’t be developed.
"Choosing to carry on was immensely inhumane and was the worst thing I could do because my babies were 100 per cent goners.
"[They said] I was only causing them more pain by carrying on with the pregnancy.
"We were considering at this point terminating the pregnancies because this was coming from top consultants.
"We went home to think about it and I decided to do my own research and found Little Heartbeats and information on PPROM and found that there were charities out there who support women going through this.
"Every day was touch and go. Each time I would go to the toilet I would lose fluid. Every time I stood up I would lose waters.
"I knew that it was a really serious thing. If I had been walking around I would have lost my children.
"The NHS didn’t advise me to go on bed rest, it was from my own research that I decided that was the best option.
"I avoided baths and swimming pools. I was drinking water as much as I could to replenish what I was losing, seven or eight litres a day.
"It was really, really difficult to stay positive and stay mentally sane as well. It was extremely difficult and we did feel very isolated as a family as well.
"But we knew that we were having a scan every week too. Each week we would go for this scan and we would be reassured that the scan showed our babies were healthy and fine.
"That’s what pushed us to carry on with the pregnancy every single week. We would see the boys on the screen and they would be fine."
Against all the odds, Hannah made it to 34 weeks and planned a C-section with her doctors.
George was born first weighing 5lb 4oz and Alfie at 4lb 1oz, and both spent four days in NICU.
Despite Alfie being born with holes in his heart and George suffering a weakened immune system due to his premature birth, both toddlers are now healthy and thriving.
Hannah said: "Taking our boys home was amazing. Just to know that we were right and that we had made the right decision by our children.
"They had defeated all the odds and they were strong, healthy little boys. They are now so cheeky and you look at them and think, wow, you nearly weren’t here.
"I think there needs to be more awareness of PPROM. We weren’t given any leaflets or help.
Ciara Curran, founder of Little Heartbeats, said: "Hannah and her little surviving PPROM babies are living proof these babies can survive with little to zero fluids."
A spokesperson for Bolton NHS Foundation Trust said: "We are really sorry to hear about this. We do not comment on individual cases. However, we would be happy to meet with Hannah to discuss directly with her."
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