A pregnant woman was surprised more than most on April Fools day when her twins were born two weeks before the planned delivery date – now she wants to reassure mothers due to give birth during the coronavirus pandemic.
Kayleigh Alden-Hollinsworth lives in Felixstowe with her partner Shane Baxendale and their three-year-old son Rocko, but is currently staying in Ipswich Hospital after giving birth to twin baby girls on Wednesday April 1.
“The staff were amazing,” she said. “I understand that a lot of people are really worried about having a baby at the moment but my experience went really well and I just want to reassure people that it will be okay.”
The 33-year-old’s story went viral when she posted about her experience on the Rainbow Trail Facebook group and she has now received more than 3,000 comments and 300 shares by people who felt moved by her good news.
“I thought I’d just post about my experience to let people known what it is like and reassure them,” she explained.
“But my friend then messaged me asking if I’d seen all of the comments and I was amazed as it had totally blown up.
“I have had loads of messages from people asking questions to congratulating me, but a lot of mums are worried with the current situation.”
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Kayleigh was petrified when she was rushed to hospital with contractions at 9.45am on Wednesday.
Her girls were supposed to be delivered via caesarean on Monday April 13 but instead Nellie and Esmae Baxendale were born at 11.22am and 11.23am that very day.
She recalled her experience at the hospital being strange at first and said: “Seeing people in masks is really unusual and I can see how it is scary as you can’t see their face underneath it.
“But you do get used to it and the doctors and nurses were being so chatty, saying how they felt it was so weird to them too which made me feel very relaxed – they were all so down to earth and reassuring.”
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Ipswich Hospital has introduced strict rules for the safety of patients and so partners are only allowed to stay for one hour after the delivery of the baby and no visitors are allowed.
However, restrictions may differ depending on the hospital and situation of the birth.
MORE: 14 coronavirus deaths at Ipswich Hospital were not reported due to ‘admin error’
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