Liverpool mum defies odds to give birth

by Nick Webster. Published Sun 25 Dec 2011 08:32

Brave Alison Kirk astonished doctors when she gave birth to a baby girl against the odds while she was on dialysis.

Alison, 28, gave birth to little Gracie Mae despite the fact she has suffered kidney failure and is on the waiting list for a transplant.

Doctors warned that the pregnancy threatened her own live but she was determined to become one of the few women to become a mother while suffering with her condition.

She has been on dialysis every other day of her life since the age of 11 and women with her health problems rarely have children.

But Gracie Mae arrived at Liverpool Women's Hospital in a caesarean birth that followed 36 hours of dialysis in a single week.

Gracie May was just 3lbs 10oz when she was born on November 21, and was 10 weeks premature.

Alison had lost a child in 2005 after 24 weeks of pregnancy. Her little boy, Jack, lived for just 12 hours.

Alison, of Wallasey, Merseyside, said: "I thought I'd never be a mum. I knew the risks that I could lose another child, but I wanted to go through with it

Alison added: "Gracie Mae is doing brilliantly and I feel recovered now.

"It is very rare for someone with my illness, called cystinosis, to give birth but the hospital staff were amazing.

"I had to have four hours of dialysis at the Royal every day throughout the pregnancy which was tough, but it was worth it. My partner Michael is so happy and grateful to the people who helped us."

Gracie Mae is now out of an incubator and in a cot at the hospital where she is being kept under observation.

Alison has returned home but goes to see her new arrival every day with partner and carer Michael Scott, 25.

Consultant at Liverpool Women's Hospital, Steve Walkinshaw, said:"Pregnancy in women treated with renal dialysis is rare. I have never come across one before.

"Only 90 pregnancies worldwide were reported between 2002 and 2008."

"The combination of risks involved undoubtedly put Alison''s life in danger and meant she had to spend the final weeks of her pregnancy in hospital.

"The successful outcome here is a testament to the care provided by a number of doctors, nurses and midwives in both hospitals and shows what can be achieved in modern maternal medicine."

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