Samuel's story

When Jo was admitted to hospital for emergency surgery 29 weeks into her pregnancy, nobody knew what the outcome would be for mother or baby. Thankfully, Jo and husband Will are now the proud parents of Samuel, who survived being born at just 30 weeks.

To give Samuel’s tiny lungs the best possible chance to develop, doctors injected Jo with steroids for two days ahead of the operation.

“For my family it was a hugely stressful time,” Jo says. “No-one knew what would happen to the baby. I was in a lot of pain so they were very concerned for me, too.”

Samuel was born by caesarean section, with three surgeons present.

Now three months old, Samuel is doing well. At 8lbs 6oz he is still small for his age, but is putting on weight and growing well.

Sadly, premature birth is the biggest killer of babies in the UK. Babies who survive are at risk of developing lifelong conditions such as cerebral palsy, blindness and learning difficulties. They are also more vulnerable to high blood pressure and diabetes during adulthood.

With a prestigious Action Research Training Fellowship Dr Jo Cook has been working to develop a blood test for to all expectant mothers - aiming to predict which women might go into labour too soon, so that extra monitoring and care can be taken to protect babies.

With her baby son now safely in her arms, Jo is only too aware of the vital need for research into why some babies are born too soon, and the hope that Dr Cook’s work offers other families.

You can find out about Dr Cook's research at Imperial College, London.

Action is also currently funding research to help women considered to be at high risk of early labour.

Samuel is now a boisterous little boy who's doing really well.