Lauren* was an identical twin but sadly, after developing twin to twin transfusion syndrome, her sister died at 19 weeks. Lauren was born extremely prematurely at 25 weeks gestation, weighing just 618g. When she was born, she had septicaemia and was intubated.
She couldn’t tolerate anything in her stomach and had to have nutrients via an arterial line. Lauren spent 208 days in the neonatal unit and was oxygen dependent at discharge.
“When you leave hospital with a child who has needed acute care, they are not fixed. They just don’t need 24-hour nursing anymore. You just move on to a different phase of care” Laura’s father, Liam, told us.
Lauren was initially referred to the Osteopathic Centre for Children (OCC) by a breastfeeding support clinic. “After the first session, we were completely sold!” says Liam.
“I was holding her during the treatment, and I could feel the change in her. The tension left her body. After, she was instantly babbling, smiling and giggling,” continued Katrina, Lauren’s mother. Over the past few months, Lauren and her parents have kept coming to OCC clinics for further treatment.
“This has been the only medical intervention we have had outside of the hospital,” says Katrina. “It feels so empowering to be able to do something that helps your child when you’ve had nothing but observations since being discharged from hospital! Lauren benefits massively from treatment. The first time we saw Stuart he said straight away that her lungs were underdeveloped. He immediately identified it and knew exactly what attention was required. There have been incremental changes each time we come. All of it has helped.”
