A MUM has hit back at her doctors who said she should let her twin daughters die when she went into labour at 22 weeks and refused to give her care.
Kayla Ibarra was already a mum to 18-month old Noah when her and her husband decided to try for another baby – and much to their delight, the happy parents conceived twins.
Kayla Ibarra went into labour with her twin daughters 18 weeks early last yearCredit: Kayla Ibarra
Writing on her blog Imperfect Motherhood, the Canadian mum-of-three said the pregnancy felt “normal” until she caught a cold at the nursery she was working at during her second trimester.
After noticing a small spot of blood when she went to the loo, Kayla called her midwife who recommended she went into hospital just to make sure she didn’t have a bladder infection.
While she was sitting in the waiting room for four hours, the pregnant mum grew increasingly uncomfortable – but as she was so early into her pregnancy, Kayla assumed it was Braxton Hicks.
“I called my midwife and told her the nurses hadn’t seen me yet and I was super uncomfortable,” Kayla said. “She was floored and called right up. The nurses told her they ‘forgot I was there.’”
The mum already gad 18-month-old Noah when she found out she was expecting twinsCredit: Kayla Ibarra
The first thing the nurses asked for was a urine test – but when this came back clean, the mum burst into tears because she “KNEW this was labour.”
She continued: “I started bawling my eyes out as I was finally wheeled to the ultrasound room.
“While getting the exam done, I kept telling the tech I was having contractions. She kept telling me to relax and all would be fine. I stood up and BAM, my water broke.”
When she asked her doctor what they would do now, she replied: “The babies will be born today and they will die.”
By the time Kayla was taken back upstairs, her whole family were there waiting for her.
Kayla was told by doctors that there was nothing they could do and the twins would dieCredit: Kayla Ibarra
The mum recalled: “They began asking the doctor [what could be done] but again, she told them ‘there is nothing that can be done, the twins will be born today and they will die.’
“The way she spoke was so cold and so matter-of-fact.”
As doctors at the hospital didn’t expect the babies to survive, Kayla then began searching for other places that have a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) which would take on her twins.
She explained: “We found out [a hospital in London, Ontario] that intervened at 24 weeks. We begged the doctor to call and see if they would consider seeing me and she denied our request.
“I asked for pain medication and she told me, ‘this is going to be quick, let’s get it over with.’”
Credit: Kayla Ibarra
Kayla’s twins weighed barely one pound each when they were born 18 weeks earlyCredit: Kayla Ibarra
At this point, Kayla’s contractions stopped and her doctor agreed to let her rest.
She added: “[The doctor] wouldn’t let me see the twins or hear their heartbeats because it was a ‘waste of time’.”
Despite the fact her labour had stopped, a new doctor urged Kayla to deliver the twins the following morning because it put her life in danger.
She wrote: “I told him I refused to start labour again and as long as the twins are in me they are breathing and safe. He also denied me medication that would help the twins lung and brain develop.
“I laid in the hospital bed with on and off labour for 4 days. I couldn’t get up to pee or move because every time I did Luna would come out a little more.”
The twins spent 115 days in the NICU before being allowed homeCredit: Kayla Ibarra
Four days later, Kayla went into labour again at 22 and a half weeks – which was four days too early for the nearby hospital to intervene.
She added: “This four-day battle was about to come to an end and I was on the losing end. My life was about to be shattered.
“I was going to birth my daughters and hold them as they died. None of my family was there yet, I was alone.”
Fortunately, a new doctor had been assigned to Kayla’s case right as they were setting up the delivery room.
The doctor thought it was worth calling the hospital in Ontario who agreed to take the premature babies on.
Kayla says the twins are now ‘typical one-year-olds’Credit: Kayla Ibarra
Within hours, Kayla had given birth to her daughters Luna and Ema – who both weighed barely a pound each – and was told they would probably only make it through the next 24 hours or so.
In total, the twins spent 115 days in the NICU – but still managed to make it home before their original due date.
One year on, Kayla says Luna and Emma are “typical one-year-olds” and no one would even know they were born 18 weeks premature.
She added: “We want the world to know they CAN SURVIVE and they CAN thrive. We are now ambassadors with the hospital who saved the twins.”