Mother avoids miscarriage by lying upside down for three months

Gives birth to healthy baby girl

A mother who lay upside down for three months to avoid having a miscarriage has given birth to a healthy baby girl.

The mum, Donna Kelly, 29, suffered from a weak cervix, and had to lie in a bed angled to relieve pressure on her cervix from 20 weeks into the pregnancy after a scan revealed her cervix was starting to open prematurely.

Fortunately, Mrs Kelly was under the care of one of the world’s leading experts on recurrent miscarriage, Professor Siobhan Quenby.

Mrs Kelly, from Coventry, had experienced two late miscarriages since the birth of her son in 2007 and was desperate to have a brother or sister for her little boy, Joshua.

At one stage the baby was just one inch away from the top of her cervix but by using gravity to move the baby away from the cervix the aim was to relieve pressure and prevent another pre-term labour.

The mum lay ‘head down’, with her feet higher than her head and was prescribed complete bed rest, 24 hours a day, except for visits to the toilet.

“I thought history was repeating itself and I was devastated to think I was going to lose another baby," she said.

"I was surprised when Professor Quenby said for me to lie in bed at a tilt but I was ready to give anything a try.

"I felt sick at first and had constant headaches but I soon got used to it.

"The hardest thing was spending so much time away from my son Joshua, but three months away from him for the sake of giving him a sibling is worth it.”

Throughout her pregnancy Mrs Kelly had been told that if she got to 28 weeks of her pregnancy, there was a 95% chance the baby would survive.

When that goal come and went, she set her sights on 34 weeks, at which point her waters broke and baby Amelia was born, weighing 4lbs and 15ozs in August.

Professor Quenby, a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist at University Hospital and Warwick Medical School, said: “Donna's condition is rare (second trimester, 14-22 weeks miscarriages only occur in about 0.5%) and while the treatment may sound strange, it is very effective.”

Professor Quenby is currently researching a way of replacing this form of treatment, so a hospital stay would not be required.

The Family GP