Mia and Clayton

Just three days later, her joy turned to fear when she went into premature labour, and her baby needed urgent help.

It was Sunday 12 January when Mia started feeling stomach pains. At first, she thought it might pass, but when it didn’t, she sought medical advice. It was that evening when she realised something was very wrong, and she was actually in premature labour.

Her partner, Drew, called 999 while Mia’s mum phoned her midwife. Minutes later, at 8:30pm, Mia gave birth in her bedroom.

“I looked down and saw a tiny baby boy gasping for air,” Mia recalls.

Clayton’s fight for life

A road ambulance arrived quickly to help Mia’s baby, Clayton. At the same time, our Anglia Two crew, Dr Liam Neale and Critical Care Paramedic (CCP) Jon Locke, were dispatched by critical care car from our Cambridge base.

When someone needs us, it’s usually the worst moment of their life, and their family’s. That’s why our specialist doctors, critical care paramedics and pilots bring the advanced skills, equipment and medicine directly to the patient’s side in the fastest time possible, providing a level of treatment and care normally only found in a hospital.

The equipment carried by our helicopters and critical care cars enables enhanced care to be delivered at the incident scene – when the patient needs it most – such as blood transfusions, advanced pain relief, sedation and anaesthesia, and surgical interventions. This, combined with quick onward transfer to the most appropriate hospital, gives every patient the best possible chance of surviving and recovering from a life-threatening emergency.

When Dr Liam and CCP Jon arrived, Clayton was alive but extremely unwell. CCP Jon checked on Mia, who was receiving excellent care from the ambulance service, before assisting Dr Liam with baby Clayton. Weighing just 775g, Clayton was in a critical condition; his heart rate was dangerously low at just 60 beats per minute, when the norm for a full-term newborn is 100–160, and his oxygen levels were only 68%. He was blue and cold; it was a race against time.

Taking baby Clayton to the back of a heated road ambulance, Dr Liam and CCP Jon began treating Clayton immediately, providing critical care in the moments he needed it most.

Dr Liam explains, “Babies born this prematurely struggle to adapt to the outside world and often need help with their breathing. Even in a hospital setting, children this premature are at risk of dying. Being born at home increases this risk. The odds really were against Clayton, and we needed to do all we could to help him.”

Clayton’s tiny body was fighting really hard, but he was barely breathing, so Dr Liam and CCP Jon inserted a breathing tube so they could inflate his lungs.

Dr Liam continues. “He was so small he could fit in the palm of my hand. It was a real test of our equipment and skills on somebody so tiny. We got him breathing again, then supported this until he reached the hospital specialists. It was one of the most challenging jobs I’ve ever been to.”

“They worked so hard to keep Clayton alive,” Mia says. “Jon also comforted my mum and Drew – and helped me feel safe.”

Dr Liam and CCP Jon accompanied Clayton during a transfer by land ambulance for specialist care at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, where it was confirmed Clayton was born at 26 weeks. He was in hospital for several months but, against all odds, he survived.

“Everyone put in 100% and look at the outcome; they had the skills and knowledge to do that, and this makes me hopeful for other medical situations,” Mia says.

More than just medical care

But it wasn’t just the night of Clayton’s birth that we were able to help Mia; while in hospital, she received a card from our Aftercare team. We offer an aftercare service to ensure patients, and their families receive any additional support they need to help with their recovery journeys.

Natalie Ashley, Clinical Liaison Lead also visited Mia in hospital and facilitated a visit to our Cambridge base a few months later with Clayton, Drew, their eldest son, Sean, and Mia’s Mum.

CCP Jon says, “It was lovely to see Mia so positive despite the difficult circumstances she had been through and the positivity she had during such adversity. It was a completely different person to the one I had met during the job, which was really refreshing to see.

“Seeing Clayton was amazing, given the early start he had in life and how he had such a positive outcome was a pleasure to experience. It is incredible to see that our efforts in his treatment, alongside the ambulance service, have led to this outcome.”

It takes a team to save a life

We are more than a yellow helicopter and critical care car. We’re not just a faster way to get to hospital. When every second counts, we bring the expert care, specialist knowledge and lifesaving equipment normally only found in a hospital to the scene, whenever and wherever it is needed – and we’re fuelled by public donations.

Clayton needed urgent help – and you provided it.

Mia adds, “We received so much care from East Anglian Air Ambulance – and is all because of the kindness from others.”