5 April 2020

The birth of identical twins Henry and Albert saved the life of mum Katie Baker, who suffered with HELLP syndrome during the latter stages of her pregnancy. She wants to raise awareness about the condition – which can affect all pregnancies, not just multiple births.

The Cambridgeshire nursery worker was thrilled when she discovered she was expecting identical twin boys. She and her partner, Henry, were warned about TTTS (Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome), but nothing else.

Her pregnancy had been going well when, at 32 weeks, Katie began to feel unwell, with a pain under her ribs. She felt dizzy and began seeing white lights.

Henry was concerned and rushed Katie to the local hospital, where she underwent tests for preeclampsia. They were reassured, though, after the blood pressure and other tests came back normal. Katie was sent home to rest, and told to come back if anything changed.

Just six hours later I knew something wasn’t right and we went back into hospital, where I deteriorated quickly.

“My liver was not working properly, my platelets were low and by then I was pretty much out of it.

“It was such a scary time, and I was then diagnosed with HELLP syndrome.

“The boys were delivered by emergency C-section and were taken straight to the neonatal unit. Even though they were premature, they were good weights, Henry was 5lbs 4oz and Albert 4lbs 1oz. But I wasn’t able to see them until the next day as I was so poorly.

“I had a tricky recovery, but being able to see the boys really helped me and I was determined to get well and feed them myself.”

It wasn’t until she had spent a few days recovering that Katie realised quite how unwell she had been.

“We’d never heard of HELLP syndrome so I want to make sure other mummies out there know the symptoms, as I don’t think it is well known at all.”

According to the Preeclampsia Foundation, HELLP syndrome is a life-threatening pregnancy complication usually considered to be a variant of preeclampsia. Both conditions usually occur during the later stages of pregnancy, or sometimes after childbirth.

Katie said she focused on helping her babies and was determined to get better for them.

“With the help of staff at the hospital, who downloaded me all the information about breastfeeding from the Twins Trust website, and my partner, I expressed milk for the boys every three hours. It was hard work but I kept thinking I was doing it for them and it was helping me.

“I was able to breastfeed Henry after the first week and Albert a bit later. We all stayed in until  I had established two full feeds a day for two days in a row.”

Feeling stronger, the family went home after three weeks in hospital. But Katie knew something wasn’t going right with breastfeeding: she fed them separately, and both twins fed in the same way, but then she saw a health visitor, who “recognised that both boys had tongue tie which can make it difficult for them to feed and very painful for me! They had their tongues snipped when they were eight weeks and it made a huge difference.

“The procedure is really very simple and nothing for parents to worry about. Both boys fed brilliantly straight afterwards.

“Now they are one, I give them each a feed at night before they go to sleep. I feel very blessed to be where we are today with my two healthy, happy boys and I’ve found Twins Trust a great source of support.”