Healthy baby girl ends nightmare of 19 miscarriages for woman
Annette Quinlan, 42, has a rare condition which means her immune system attacks a growing embryo and destroys the placenta.
The psychiatric nurse, from Chester, was unable to carry a baby beyond seven weeks before miscarrying. But following treatment by a powerful steroid, her 14-year agony has ended.
Baby Niamh was born a month premature, weighing 3lb 4oz.
Mrs Quinlan told the Daily Post in Liverpool: “I never gave up hope and neither did my doctors. I was prepared to do it because I wanted a baby so much. When they held Niamh up, and there she was after all that waiting, it was the best moment of my life. She was definitely worth waiting for.”
Mrs Quinlan fell pregnant soon after getting married 14 years ago but lost the baby at seven weeks.
After two more miscarriages, she gave away the vests and booties she had bought for her child. She suffered seven more miscarriages and was referred to Liverpool Women’s Hospital, where it was discovered she had an abnormal number of “killer cells” in her uterus lining.
She agreed to take part in research into the condition, which affects less than 1% of women, and was given the steroid Prednisolene to suppress her immune system.
She miscarried several more times but each pregnancy lasted slightly longer. A year ago she lost twins and was discussing with husband Alan, 46, whether they should stop trying.
Last June, Mrs Quinlan discovered she was pregnant again. She said she “took one week at a time and tried not to be too hopeful”.
She was admitted to hospital with high blood pressure on January 7 and on January 15 Niamh was delivered.
Mrs Quinlan said: “My message to other women in the same situation is to keep going. Things are changing all the time.”
