Christchurch mum sets up fundraiser for St Mary's Maternity Unit staff

The prenatal and fetal period of Stacey Buckle’s pregnancy were far from straightforward.

The mother of four had previous complications with her eldest son, who was born at 30 weeks. So, when she started having regular bleeds during her most recent pregnancy, she immediately thought the worst.

Stacey said: “The pregnancy itself was pretty traumatic, it was just an absolute joke. I haven’t had the best time with pregnancies, I haven’t had a full-term baby.

“I started bleeding at six weeks. They sent me to the hospital but I got checked and sent home.

“I had a big bleed when I was out shopping with my son. I had to abandon my shopping and run out of there. I called 999 and they took me straight to Poole Hospital.”

However, during this stage, Stacey had next to no contact with her midwives. In total, she was given three midwives, one of which she was never introduced to.

This changed when Poole Hospital stepped in after Stacey was taken to the hospital Antenatal Day Assessment centre after a bleed at 18 weeks.

“At Poole Hospital the registrar there was the first person who started kicking some butts and getting things going,” Stacey added.

“He was the one that noticed that no one was taken care of me and my child.

“He called me nine weeks later after Abel was born to ask if everything had been done. I could hear over the phone that he was panicking that things weren’t put in place.”

Having been told that she will need a caesarean, something that Stacey said she was “petrified” at the prospect of, she had a natural birth just five days later.

The 36-year-old gave birth to her son Abel on Saturday, February 13 at St Mary’s Maternity Unit at just 29 weeks gestation, weighing just 3lb 2oz.

As her mother, who had been present at her three previous pregnancies, and her husband were not allowed to be there for her when she went into labour, due to the current Covid-19 restrictions, hospital staff took on the guardian role for Stacey’s delivery.

Stacey said that after so many difficulties during the early stages of her pregnancy the support she was given at St Mary’s Maternity Unit was “absolute amazing”.

She added: “The staff, especially people like Jack Payne, who is a male nurse in a post-natal unit, Carol Cox, Jane Fraser and Joleen Branca were just incredible.

“These people come into work leaving their own babies behind to look after our babies. They were there by my side every second of the way providing that one-to-one care.

“It is clear how much they actually care about their job; they make sure to look after the mother and the family as well the little babies.”

Abel, who is now aged 33 weeks for gestation and weighing 3lb 7oz, is still being treated at Poole Hospital’s NICU unit.

Although he has been moved to a heated coat from an incubator taken off oxygen, he remains in intensive care and is still being tube fed.

Stacey goes to see her son every day twice a day, in between doing the school run, and with her husband Michael every evening.

To show her support for the hospital, Stacey has set up a crowdfunding page to raise donations for the staff at the hospital as a way of saying thank you.

“Since the pregnancy I have been bringing in cakes for them,” Stacey said.

“At the moment the page is on £50 and if it stops there, I’d be happy as I could just get them a load of cakes to enjoy in their breaks.

“They work so hard at their job making everything as stress free for the mums, but they are also mums and dads themselves and they do not get any recognition for what they do.”

To donate, click here.