Mum, 21, is thankful to see baby thriving

A MUM-TO-BE contracted a womb infection which caused her baby to be born at 23 weeks – weighing just 493 grams

- KATIE PEARSON & KATIE TIMMS

Courtney Harvey, 21, was devastated when doctors gave her baby a 10% chance of survival. But her little girl, one-year-old Melanie Harvey, is now thriving.

The ordeal began 22 weeks into her pregnancy when doctors diagnosed Courtney with an infection which was “poisoning” both her and the baby. They prescribed antibiotics, but just one week later the mumto-be became “terrified’’ her baby would die when she went into early labour at Derriford Hospital, Plymouth.

The tiny tot spent four months in hospital fighting for her life, after suffering a bleed on the brain and a detached retina in her both eyes.

The brave little girl was finally able to go home to St Blazey, in southeast Cornwall, in July 2022 with mum and dad Samuel Penny, 21, a kitchen worker.

Courtney, a full-time mum, said: “The doctor told me I had an infection in the womb, and it was like we were poisoning each other. I had been so unwell – it was like my body couldn’t cope with being pregnant.

“When she was placed on my chest, she didn’t have any recognisable features. She looked like a little alien. We were told she only had a 10% chance of survival, and I was devastated. But she was so strong, and I knew she was a fighter.”