Parents who were advised to turn off their baby's life support machine after he was born at 23 WEEKS and given 'no chance of survival' celebrate his first birthday

As he crawls around and babbles his first words, Lucas Moore is an exhilarating bundle of joy.

But, remarkably, he could easily have not been here – if he had weighed just an ounce less at birth.

He was born prematurely at 23 weeks weighing 520g, just 0.7 of an ounce over the hospital’s 500g cut-off point for intervention.

+5

Bundle of joy: Lucas Moore pictured with his parents Sylvia, 30, and Tom, 33, at home in Rugby, Warwickshire 

+5

Tiny: Born at 23 weeks - a week before the abortion cut-off limit - weighing a tiny 1lb 1oz, Lucas was so small and unwell that his parents claim they were advised to turn off his life-support machine

With severe health problems – including a bleed on the brain and a hole in his heart – Lucas’s chances seemed dire, and doctors warned there was a high chance of him suffering disabilities as a result.

However, he defied predictions and has now celebrated his first birthday.

The case will fuel the debate over guidelines governing whether hospitals try to save the lives of extremely premature babies.

It will also raise fresh questions about abortion laws, which allow terminations up to 24 weeks. 

+5

+5

Proud: A year on, Lucas has no long-term health problems, his parents claim, calling him their 'miracle' baby

+5

Lucas: The case will fuel the debate over guidelines governing whether hospitals try to save the lives of extremely premature babies

Lucas’s mother Sylvia Moore, 30, described her son as a ‘little fighter’, adding: ‘We know premature babies can make it.

THE GUIDELINES FOR HELPING PREMATURE BABIES  

While the final decision of whether to help an extremely premature baby to survive is a decision primarily for doctors, in consultation with the parents, guidelines are set by the British Association of Perinatal Medicine. These state:

Less than 23 weeks: ‘It would be considered in the best interests of the baby, and standard practice, for resuscitation not to be carried out’.

23 weeks to 23 weeks and six days: ‘If… the foetal heart is heard during labour, a professional experienced in resuscitation should be available to attend the birth’.

24 weeks to 24 weeks and six days: ‘Resuscitation should be commenced unless the parents and clinicians have considered that the baby will be born severely compromised’.

25 weeks and greater: ‘It is appropriate to resuscitate babies at this gestation and, if the response is encouraging, to start intensive care’.

The Nuffield Council on Bioethics has also issued guidance, which covers interventions in the case of even more premature babies. It suggests:

Between 22 weeks and 22 weeks and six days: ‘Standard practice should not be to resuscitate the baby’. It should only be considered if the parents insist and ‘the clinicians agree that it is in the baby’s best interests’.

Before 22 weeks: ‘Attempts to resuscitate should only take place within a clinical research study that has been assessed and approved by a research ethics committee’. 

‘If you say you will support a child that is 500g then what is the difference with one that is 495g? I think abortions are morally wrong after 22 weeks.’

Mrs Moore, from Rugby in Warwickshire, started experiencing complications with her pregnancy when her waters broke at 22 weeks.

She and her husband Tom, 33, a car designer for Tata Motors, were told she would need bed rest in hospital to try and extend the pregnancy.

Doctors at Coventry University Hospital warned that her baby faced being stillborn unless he had more time to develop – but she went into labour just nine days later, on August 28 last year.

Lucas was unable to breathe for the first six minutes of his life as attempts were made to open his immature lungs.

He was rushed to intensive care immediately – ending up spending 109 days in hospital.

He had severe bleeding on both sides of the brain and [doctors] said it was worth thinking about whether we wanted to put Lucas through all this, added Mrs Moore, who is originally from Brazil.

‘I asked what they meant and they said there was a 99 per cent chance he would have cerebral palsy. He would be deaf and could be blind.’

But after ten weeks the bleeds had gone altogether, and by the time he left hospital he was overcoming the hole in his heart.

Now the only signs of his ordeal are that he is small for his age and short-sighted because of a condition associated with his long-term use of an oxygen machine.

Mr Moore added: ‘We said that if he started fighting we would fight for him and that’s what he did.’

A hospital spokesman said that medics had discussed the possibility of switching off Lucas’s life support simply to ‘prepare’ his parents in case he deteriorated. He added: ‘There was no sense of “giving up easily”.’

Life on the neonatal unit: Babies and their families (related)

DAILYMAIL.CO.UK