Britain’s smallest twins, born 14 weeks premature, spend first Christmas at home after miracle recovery

The smallest twins born in Britain this year are back at home for their first Christmas after a miracle recovery.

Ava and Isla Bowen were born 14 weeks premature with the combined weight of a bag of sugar.

They were born by emergency caesarian in July just 26 weeks into their mother’s pregnancy, and each weighed less than 2lbs.

Ava weighed 788g at birth, while her sister Isla was just 500g, and both were put on ventilators because they were too small to breathe for themselves.

But to the relief of first-time parents Rochelle Bowen and Patrick Ward, from Bristol, the girls are home for Christmas against all the odds.

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For Ava, in particular, the first few months of her life have been a battle – at one point her lungs collapsed, then she had a problem with one of her heart valves and also required eye surgery because her sight was at risk.

‘It has been a long struggle for the two of them,’ said mother Rochelle, 31.

‘At times we really didn’t think Isla would make it – but she did. I still can’t believe she’s here really. She’s amazing, she’s literally a miracle baby.’

The couple said they knew something was wrong at their first scan at 12 weeks, when it was revealed that Isla’s growth was a week behind her sister’s.

Rochelle said doctors told her the babies had to get to at least 28 weeks in order to survive – and that she was sent to see a specialist in London to discuss termination.

‘As time went on Isla was three or four weeks behind in development,’ she said.

‘The problem was that if she had died in the womb then her sister could’ve had brain damage because they share the same blood flow.

‘I just took it week by week. And when I got to week 25 I thought, this is amazing. I never thought we’d get to this stage.’

At 26 weeks, the couple were told that Isla had stopped growing, and Rochelle was admitted to hospital for monitoring every two hours.

The decision was made at 26 weeks and three days to carry out an emergency caesarean.

Ava and Isla were delivered at about 11am on July 7 at Southmead Hospital – and were taken straight to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).

Rochelle said: ‘I was petrified of seeing them because they were so small but they looked perfectly formed, just smaller.

‘I actually thought Isla was going to be tinier than she was. I was expecting her to be around 14oz, but she was born at 17oz.

‘I wasn’t allowed to see them until 8pm that night then it was another three weeks before I got to hold Isla.’

Rochelle said Isla had to be on a ventilator for more than seven weeks.

‘Then her lungs collapsed and we thought that was it, that she wasn’t going to make it – I was really scared,’ she said.

‘She had a problem with one of her heart valves, and then she had to have eye surgery because she was going blind.

‘They said it was her sight, her heart, her lungs. But they just kept doing everything they could.

‘She’s literally a miracle baby, with everything she’s had to go through.’

Isla spent a total of 112 days in the NICU, with her twin sister Ava going home two weeks before her, after 99 days on the unit.

‘I think when Ava came home Isla missed her twin and wanted to be home with her,’ said Rochelle.

‘They were in a cot together the whole time in hospital, so we think that when Ava left, Isla must have known.

‘She turned a corner better than anyone thought she would.’

Ava now weighs a 8lb 10oz with Isla reaching 6lb 5oz.

Neither twin is showing any signs of long-terms effects of being born prematurely, including brain bleeds or cerebral palsy.

‘They’re just like normal babies now,’ said Rochelle.

‘Isla is still on a bit of oxygen, and she’s never going to be an Olympic athlete, but she’ll be able to play sports and things like that.’