A woman who nearly died after a miscarriage has welcomed a ‘miracle’ baby girl after 20 years of trying to conceive.
Rebecca Dando, 37, had always dreamed of being a mum, but thought it wouldn’t happen after she was rushed to hospital when she haemorrhaged due to a miscarriage in February last year.
She had suffered multiple miscarriages while trying to conceive from the age of 18 – despite doctors telling her nothing appeared to be wrong.
But after meeting her partner, Christopher Thomas, 26, in April 2019, Rebecca decided to give trying for a baby another go.
After the series of losses, she was surprised when she found out she was expecting in September 2021, and this time the pregnancy progressed.
Miracle baby, Lowri Joan Dando, was born on May 23, weighing 7lb 6oz, at the Grange University Hospital, Cwmbran, Wales, via an emergency c-section.
Rebecca, a cafe owner, from Ebbw Vale, said: ‘I cried when I got past 12 weeks with Lowri as I’d never made it that far in a pregnancy before.
‘I was terrified for every day that something would go wrong.
‘It has taken 20 years and several miscarriages to have a baby and I’ll never forget each loss but I’m so glad I never gave up hope.’
Ever since she was young, Rebecca had always dreamed of being a mum, and although she was shocked when she fell pregnant at 18, was heartbroken to lose the baby before her 12-week scan.
‘I was very young, and I hadn’t even told my parents,’ she said.
‘It horrific and I’ve never forgotten being alone in my room and knowing I’d lost the baby.’
Rebecca fell pregnant again with her previous partner when she was 26, saying ‘it seemed like the right time.’
But at the 12-week scan she was told the baby’s heart had stopped beating.
‘I had been really exited to be a mum, so I was crushed,’ Rebecca said. ‘It took a long time to get over.’
After splitting from that partner, Rebecca spiralled into a depression, falling pregnant shortly afterwards and deciding she still wanted to be a mum.
However, at the scan she was told she has lost the baby in a ‘missed miscarriage’ where only the sac remained.
‘I nearly had to have a hysterectomy when they couldn’t stop the bleeding, she said.
‘After I thought: “That’s it, I’ll never be a mum.”‘
But when Rebecca started dating Christopher, who she knew through work as a catering supervisor, the pair quickly hit it off.
The couple moved in together around seven months later and decided to try for a baby, though Rebecca says her ‘hopes were low’.
‘We tried and nothing happened,’ she added, ‘so I put it to the back of my mind.’
But to her surprise, Rebecca discovered she had fallen pregnant naturally in September 2021, not long after she opened her cafe.
Given her history of pregnancy loss, she says she was ‘terrified’ leading up to the 12-week mark – which was made worse because Rebecca suffered from pre-eclampsia.
‘I couldn’t relax until she was in my arms,’ she said.
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