A mother who was told she was ‘miscarrying’ her twins gave birth at 22 weeks and says the siblings are now thriving.
Jade Crane, 43, from Heanor, Derbyshire, rushed herself to hospital after her waters appeared to be slowly leaking.
After a decade of IVF treatment and multiple miscarriages, Jade had finally made it beyond the 12-week mark and believed everything was going well.
But at 22 weeks and five days pregnant, doctors told her she was having a miscarriage.
Jade suddenly went into labour, and her daughter Harley was born weighing 500 grams, followed by her brother Harry, weighing 520 grams, an hour later.
Now four, the twins are a ‘medical evidence of survival’. Jade, previously a mental health nurse, said: ‘The doctor said, ‘I’m really sorry, but you’re having a miscarriage.’
‘It didn’t make sense to me because I could still feel them moving around, and the pregnancy had been perfect.
‘The children were the size of a Coke can – and their hands looked like Barbie doll fingers because they were so perfect and tiny.
Jade Crane, 43, from Heanor, Derbyshire, who was told she was miscarrying her twins gave birth at 22 weeks – and says the siblings are now thriving (pictured)
‘Because they were so light – only weighing around 500g each – sometimes when I cook a cake, I am reminded about how tiny they are – they literally weigh similar to a big block of butter.
‘At Christmas, we laughed because they were literally the size of an elf on a shelf.
‘They are thriving now – they survived through so much and you see that strength within them.’
Jade rushed to Nottingham City Hospital when she noticed the amniotic fluid was leaking slowly.
After being told she was having a miscarriage, doctors initially discussed trying to keep the babies in the womb until 24 weeks.
Because medical intervention was not permitted until 24 weeks, she was unable to receive a scan to know if her babies were safe.
Since finding this out, Jade has campaigned for the ‘grey area’ to be extended so mothers’ babies can be medically intervened with earlier.
However, Jade was told the neonatal team’s plan was to try to keep her pregnant for another 30 hours until she reached 23 weeks.
Harry and Harley (pictured now) are, according to their mother, going from ‘strength to strength’
The mother (pictured with her twins Harley and Harry) explained that neither child has required further hospital admissions since leaving neonatal care
Desperate to save her children, she pleaded for doctors to intervene immediately.
She said: ‘They were talking to me about comfort care and how the babies might only live for an hour or a day. I said if there is any chance you can help them, that’s what I want you to do.
Jade’s daughter Harley was born just minutes later on October 26, 2021, at 22 weeks gestation – 18 weeks early.
Jade said: ‘I couldn’t hear her cry and someone told me I wouldn’t at that stage. Then, right on cue, she let out this tiny cry like a little kitten.’
Harley was immediately taken by the neonatal team for life-saving treatment.
Her twin brother, Harry, remained in the womb for just over an hour before also being delivered.
She said: ‘He was born still inside his sac. He looked very grey compared to his sister but then he let out a tiny cry.’
Both babies were rushed away for emergency care. The twins spent the next five months in neonatal intensive care before finally being allowed home in March 2022, a month after their original due date.
Harley and Harry, both four-and-a-half years old, attend a specialist school (pictured on their first day)
Jade said: ‘They were both born with undeveloped lungs, so they had lung bleeds, a hole in the heart each, brain bleeds – they even had to have eye surgery, which is very common for babies before 34 weeks.
‘One of the worst was their perforated bowels – both of them had to go through surgery for that.
‘The twins also both had a chronic lung disease so it meant they had to come home with oxygen – normally a child is on this for over a year or two – but my babies are so strong and came off within 4 months.’
Jade described leaving the hospital as both exciting and terrifying.
She said: ‘I felt like I was stealing them. The nurses become your friends and your family. Taking home two babies on oxygen was scary and I didn’t want to leave. We actually delayed it because I wasn’t ready.’
Today, Harley and Harry are four-and-a-half years old and attending a specialist school.
Harley has non-verbal autism, and Harry has cerebral palsy, but Jade says neither diagnosis defines them.
Jade said: ‘Harley kicked a nurse when she was born, and she’s still feisty now. Harry, meanwhile, remains as laid-back as he was during his dramatic arrival.
Remarkably, neither child has required further hospital admissions since leaving neonatal care.
Jade said: ‘They are happy, healthy children and we’ve done amazingly well – they really are medical evidence of survival.’
