13/01/2021
Please take a minute to read this post this is the reason we are doing this
Necrotising enterocolistis is found in 7% of premature babies, this is due to the immaturity of their digestive systems. When our little boy Jack-Vinnie was born prematurely at 28 weeks in October 2020 weighing 2lb 110z we had never heard of the disease before and we had no idea of the deverstating effects it has.
NEC is caused through bad bacteria in the gut and intestines. This causes a serious illness where the tissue becomes inflammed and starts to die. This can then lead to perforations (holes) forming, which then allows the contents of the intestines to leak into the adomben causing a major infection, and SEPSIS. In many cases abdominal rest and antibiotics will help clear the infection but for our son and many others this isn't the case. Tranfers to better equipped hospitals are required, but only if the infants are stable enough, our son went into cardiac arrest for 10 minuets while being transfered. Blood transfusions are needed as the blood becomes acidic very quickly, ventilation is needed as the swelling puts pressure on the lungs and most of all, emergency surgery is crucial to give any chance of survival, but like Our son and many many others the deteriation happens that quickly that sadly 25 % of babies die. NEC normally happends in the first 4 weeks of life and the signs can often be hard to identify with some cases having no warning signs at all.
Main signs
Abdominal swelling or bloating.
Redness and tenderness.
Constipation
Diarrhoea or bloody stools
Vomiting
Trouble feeding
If surgery is successful then most babies will live with a syndrome called 'short bowel' and many will carry on to have multiple surgery's to remove structures, blockages or more dead tissue. Some will develop NEC for a second, third or 4th time. Many babies end up spending weeks, months and years in intensive care rectifying the damage this disease causes, many are lucky and survive but for some even after multiple surgerys and the treatment available, NEC will sadly take their lives.
The signs were clear with our little boy and if we had the knowledge we have now our story could of been a little different but they was medically misread until it was too late. 5 short hours was all it took for NEC to destroy our lives forever.
