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A mum gave birth wearing a blindfold because she was convinced her son would arrive stillborn after her waters broke at just 21 weeks.
Emma Roberts, 39, had been placed on bed rest after her waters broke but still went into labour when she was just 24 weeks pregnant.
Both Emma and her unborn son had sepsis and the mum admitted it would ‘break’ her if she had seen him dead - so when the time came for her to push she used a rolled-up t-shirt as a blindfold.
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Even after baby Jude was born she continued to wear the blindfold for more than half an hour as doctors worked on the tiny newborn.
Thankfully, Jude, who has autism and cerebral palsy, pulled through and is now an ‘incredibly happy child’, according to his mum.
Emma said: "I wanted to be blindfolded because I didn't want to see him dead as I knew how upset I would be.
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"I just needed something to cover my eyes so that I couldn't see what was going on. I suppose if I could have seen, then I would have run away.
"I'm quite a worrier and I just didn't want to see him dead because I think it would have broken me.
"I like to be in control but in that moment, you can't be in control.
"I like to fix a problem, but in that, you have to just hand it over to the professionals and there was nothing I could do to make it better.
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"As I didn't have that control, I just had to completely take myself out of it."
Tragically, Emma’s mum died while giving birth to her younger sister, which fuelled her anxiety.
Emma said: "I'll never forget the feeling of leaving him in that hospital.
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"Even up to a week before he came home, I couldn't buy anything because I thought if I bought things, then I would be telling myself he was coming home and I wasn't guaranteed that.
"It really did teach me how to be patient. I saw so many babies die in NICU and I just kept thinking Jude would be next.
"I feel so grateful that he's here. So many babies lost their battle and I'm so grateful that Jude is home and all of that battle was worth it.
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"Jude is my first and last baby ever because the experience was really traumatic.
"I love being a mum. It's very tough having a disabled child, but I wouldn't change him for the world.
"He's only just learnt to walk and he can't talk, but he is so happy.
"If someone said we could turn back time and have a typically normal child, then there's no way I would change him."
Topics: Parenting
Claire Reid