‘I gave birth to Britain's most premature twins'

Jennie Powell, 42, from Brighton, went into labour at just 22 weeks and her babies were each born weighing no more than a tub of butter. Yet they stunned doctors to become two healthy, happy little boys

- RIKKI LOFTUS

With the sea breeze whipping at my face, I waved to my mum and dad as they wandered along the beach. “It’s gorgeous weather,” my sister Susie said. “Aren’t you joining us?”

“I will soon,” I replied as I plonked myself down into a café chair.

The truth was that I wanted nothing more than to relax on the beach, push my feet into the sand and watch the waves roll in. I’d been looking forward to this family trip to Gwithian Beach in Cornwall for weeks. Only now, I could barely move without wincing and clutching my hand over my ballooning belly.

I noticed my sister’s eyes narrow. Even my husband Rich looked worried. “I’m fine,” I tried to insist through gritted teeth. Who was I fooling?

Both Rich, 43, and I had longed to be parents and when I’d become pregnant in 2016 I’d been bursting with excitement. But we lost our little Linnie to streptococcal B, a bacterial infection that can be passed to the baby during pregnancy and cause miscarriage, at 23 weeks.

Two years on, I was expecting twin boys. But at just 22 weeks pregnant, in August 2018, I was desperately hoping the shooting pain in my abdomen was a false alarm.

“It’s probably Braxton Hicks,” I told them, doubling over in agony. “You really don’t look right,” my sister blurted out as I held my bump. I didn’t want to ruin our final day at the beach but a splitting pain rippled through my belly. My mind started racing. I’d lost one baby, I couldn’t lose the twins as well.

“I think we need to get you to a hospital,” Rich suggested. “Just to be on the safe side.”