Hansard

I congratulate Rhoda Grant on bringing this important debate to the chamber. It has a personal note for me, as many of the children in my family spent time in neonatal care because of premature birth.

In March this year, I attended the launch by the Friends of the Special Nursery at Aberdeen neonatal unit of the miracles and memories scrapbooks project, which aims to bring together pictures and stories from people and families who have experienced the care and support of the Aberdeen special nursery.

One of the mothers, Julia Ann Roberts, commented to me that the neonatal care has led to a community spirit among the parents who have experienced prematurity and the care of the neonatal unit. Many of them are now dedicated fundraisers who work extremely hard to raise money to support the work of the special nursery.

One of my constituents, Donna Scott, petitioned the Parliament on the subject of donor breast milk and the establishment of a donor milk bank to cover all of Scotland. I am delighted that she was successful in achieving that aim with the support of the Scottish Government and the national health service. We now have a system in which, regardless of geography, premature babies can access donor breast milk, which as we know is vital for many premature babies.

Donna Scott and other parents who have been in contact with me have made a point about the number of beds that are available in units, particularly in Aberdeen. One point that has been brought to me frequently is about the number of mothers who have to be relocated to Ninewells in Dundee. They could not fault the care that they received there but, as Rhoda Grant highlighted, the geographical displacement causes obvious difficulties, particularly for the wider family, who want to visit and support the mother and child during what is a difficult time.

Another interesting point is about parental leave, although I realise that that is not devolved to the Parliament. Many fathers have only two weeks of statutory leave, but if a child is in a neonatal unit for a number of weeks, that leave can often be eaten up during time when the child is not at home. The mother’s maternity leave is also eaten into by the time that the child spends in the neonatal unit.

One of my constituents, Wendy Eastell, told me that, when her daughter was born prematurely at 27 weeks, she had 24 weeks of maternity leave. One week of that was spent in labour and 11 weeks were spent while her daughter was in the neonatal unit, which meant that she had only 12 weeks at home with her daughter before she had to return to work. At that point, her daughter was only term plus 11 weeks and weighed only five pounds. There can also be difficulties for mothers with breastfeeding and attachment if they do not have that vital time with their baby because it is spent largely in the neonatal unit.

Presiding Officer, I have a couple of other constituent examples that I would like to raise, so I ask you to be a little flexible with my time so that I can at least put them on the record. A number of people have contacted me. I will not be able to raise all their points, but I have told them that I will send their comments to the minister after the debate.

One example is my constituent Alison Martin, whose daughter Sawyer was born six weeks prematurely. Alison said that the staff at the neonatal unit in Aberdeen allowed her to be as hands-on as possible with the care of her daughter and that she cannot fault the care that the unit provided.

One of the more harrowing cases that I have come across is that of my constituent Dani Rose Mackay, who was pregnant with twins and was taken in at 21 weeks with pre-term premature rupture of membranes, or PPROM. One of her twins had no water, but one did. A week later, the other twin had no water either. Both babies had heartbeats right up to labour at 25 weeks, but one of them, Lucy, had stopped growing. Her cord flow was bad and she did not cope with the labour, and her heartbeat stopped during it.

Dani had been moved to Dundee at 24 weeks because Aberdeen had no room—a point that I raised earlier—but labour was stalled with steroids, magnesium and a contraction-stopping drug. At 25 weeks, she was found to be fully dilated, with her daughter Amie’s foot visible, and was induced. That failed, and 17 hours later Amie was born after surgery, although not a section. However, Dani’s cervix closed, so Lucy was induced and was stillborn, with waters intact, another seven hours later. Her waters had not ruptured, but had diminished due to placental issues.

Dani felt that there was a disparity between the service that she was offered in Aberdeen and that in Dundee. Obviously, that predates the guidance that has been implemented, so I hope that it will perhaps change some of that. She said that she would love to see discharge packs being given to mothers when they leave the neonatal unit and more appointments being offered, which would enable mothers to chart the progress of their children. Perhaps having a dedicated outpatient department as the first port of call for mothers who have spent time in the neonatal unit could be looked at.

I hope that I have been able to put some thoughts in the minister’s head. I thank Rhoda Grant for bringing the debate to the chamber.

12:45