TERRIFIED MUM
Natalie Waine expected the worst when her tiny daughter’s heart stopped beating on Christmas day…
Rather than sitting round the table eating turkey and pulling crackers, Natalie Waine and her partner Nathan spent the days leading up to Christmas 2021 in intensive care worried sick about their new baby. Three-month old-daughter Pippa had been diagnosed with a congenital heart defect weeks earlier, but on 25 December her heart had stopped entirely.
Natalie, 28, says, “The hospital had just had a visit from Santa and his elf, and I thought Pippa looked so peaceful. Then, seconds later, the nurse noticed her heart rate and oxygen levels had dropped and pressed the emergency button. It was terrifying realising that she might die on her very first Christmas day.”
But fortunately, Pippa rallied, returning home from hospital in January 2022. This year, Natalie has teamed up with charity Tiny Tickers, to help raise awareness of heart problems. “We almost lost our little girl that Christmas. I just wish I’d known the five key checks of congenital heart disease so she could’ve been diagnosed quicker,” says Natalie. “I know other parents aren’t as lucky as we’ve been.”
CONCERN
Pippa was born on 26 September 2021, weighing a healthy 7lbs 7oz. But though the pregnancy was smooth, Natalie became concerned three weeks after the birth. “She hadn’t put on any weight, which worried me,” recalls Natalie. “I took her to the GP, but they told me there was nothing to worry about. But as time went on, she became pale, clammy and lethargic. The health visitor sent us back to the GP.”
This time, the doctor noticed a heart murmur and referred them to The Royal Preston Hospital. After two days of scans, they were called in for an appointment –and it was bad news. Pippa was critically ill with two holes in her heart, as well as a narrowed artery. She was referred to the cardiac ward at Alder Hey hospital in Liverpool for life-saving surgery.
Natalie says, “I was just sobbing, unable to take it in. Iwas convinced Iwas to blame, that I’d done something during pregnancy to cause this. Doctors assured me it was just bad luck.”
Natalie and Nathan, 31, an emergency service worker, spent the next few weeks desperately trying to get Pippa to put on weight to maximise her chances of surviving surgery. On 13 December, surgeons took Pippa into theatre for her first procedure –opening up a narrowed artery to remove pressure on the heart. Pippa survived and she was fitted with a nasogastric tube inserted directly into her stomach, which was designed to strengthen her. They wanted to wait until she’d put on weight before attempting the second, riskier surgery, to repair the holes in her heart.
SURGERY
“Ronald McDonald house had given us free on-site a
