A mum from Bricket Wood, near Watford, has published a book about her daughter’s incredible story of survival, after she stopped breathing during a night feed at just four days old.
Ushma Kansara, a 34-year-old early-years assessor, gave birth to her first child, Amara, on 3 January 2023. On 7 January, Ushma and her husband Harshil, 37, were delighted to take their precious bundle home, heading to Ushma’s parents’ house in Harrow, North London, where they planned to spend the first few nights with their newborn.
Their joyful newborn bubble soon burst, however, when four-day-old Amara stopped breathing during a breastfeed.
Ushma, a former nursery manager, described the horrific scene in the bedroom: “I shouted my mum to open the front door, and we called 999. We put Amara on the floor and Harshil began CPR to try to resuscitate her. The paramedics arrived quickly and took over, thankfully managing to find her heartbeat.”
The family was taken by ambulance to Northwick Park Hospital, where tiny Amara was intubated and put on antibiotics, administered via a canula.
Ushma said: “She appeared so helpless, almost comatose, as doctors and nurses worked tirelessly around her to keep her in a stable condition.”
With doctors concluding there was a problem with Amara’s kidneys, she was transferred to Evelina London Children’s Hospital, one of the few paediatric centres that could offer dialysis to such a small baby.
Ushma and Harshil were initially given temporary accommodation on the paediatric intensive care unit (PICU), where Amara was being treated. Ushma, who was still recovering from a C-section, said they were ‘relieved’ to be offered a room at Ronald McDonald House Evelina London, two days later: “When we arrived at the House, the lovely staff provided me with a wheelchair, which I used to travel to and from the ward. It was a short and pleasant walk across Archbishop’s Park – the perfect antidote to the stressful and clinical environment of the PICU.”
Ronald McDonald House Charities UK is an independent Charity, which operates 14 Houses across England, Wales, and Scotland, providing free ‘home away from home’ accommodation and support to families with a sick child in hospital. The Houses keep families together, allowing them to be moments away from the hospital ward. They provide a place to sleep, cook and retain some sense of normal life; a lifeline for families at a very stressful time, especially when they are far from home.
Ushma added: “The House was lovely; the staff were kind and welcoming, and the facilities were brilliant. When we got tired of hospital food, we cooked our own nutritious meals in the communal kitchen, which saved us money too. In the kitchen one evening I met another mum, who’d had her baby at 25 weeks’ gestation. It was so nice speaking to other parents about our days and how we were managing the difficult situations we were in.”
Ronald McDonald House Evelina London is a purpose-built 59-bedroom House at Evelina London Children’s Hospital in the London Borough of Lambeth. Originally a 20-bedroom House near London Bridge, the new House, which opened in December 2016, was developed with a significant contribution from Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, and Guy’s and St Thomas’ Charity provided the land. The House is just a five-minute walk from the hospital, helping families to be as close as possible to their child.
Meanwhile, doctors established that Amara’s medical issues were related to her lungs and not her kidneys. They eventually discovered that she had milk on her lungs, known as aspiration, which is a serious issue that can lead to complications including respiratory distress.
Ushma said: “Thankfully, after a few days, Amara’s condition began to improve, and she was extubated and moved onto Mountain Ward. That’s when I was able to hold her for the first time since she was admitted, which was just amazing.”
Amara stayed in Evelina London Children’s Hospital for a month, before she was transferred back to Northwick Park Hospital for a further five weeks.
Having been on a ‘rollercoaster ride’ since entering parenthood, Ushma decided to continue a diary she’d started in PICU, to document every step of Amara’s medical journey. Ushma explained that the diary evolved into a book, which aims to empower other families and reassure them, as they navigate the trauma of having a sick child in hospital: “I‘m proud of ‘Dear Amara – How You Survived’ and hope it will encourage others to open up about their feelings and talk about what they’re going through.
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“In the Acknowledgments section, I thank Ronald McDonald House Charities UK for allowing us to be close to Amara, and for saving us the added stress and burden of travelling across London every day to be with her.”
Amara is now two years old and thriving, having stopped tube feeding at eight months old.
Ushma said: “She loves dinosaurs, her ‘Baloo the Bear’ and Frozen. After overcoming such adversity at the start of life, she is just incredible, and we’ll be forever grateful for everyone who helped her along the way.”
To purchase a copy of the book, ‘Dear Amara: How You Survived”, go to www.amazon.co.uk/Dear-Amara-How-You-Survived/dp/B0D383YVW8 .
To find out more about Ronald McDonald House Charities UK, visit: www.rmhc.org.uk.
