‘Selfless’ couple praised as they explain heartbreaking journey to give birth to stillborn to donate baby’s organs
Hayley and Scott Martin appeared on This Morning (Picture: ITV) This Morning viewers were left heart..
This Morning viewers were left heartbroken following a couple who plan to give birth to their sick baby in order to donate her organs.
Hayley and Scott Martin appeared on the show opposite hosts Ruth Langsford and Eamonn Holmes, where they detailed how their joys of expecting a fourth child took a tragic turn.
Speaking on the show, Hayley recounted how she noticed something was wrong after being able to lie on her tummy while pregnant.
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Hayley said: ‘Throughout the pregnancy, I kept saying I didn’t feel pregnant and something was wrong. The only thing that kept telling me that was I had really bad morning sickness.
‘But when I got to about 19 weeks just before my scan. I could lie on my stomach and that’s not normal, I’ve been pregnant three times before and that wasn’t right.’
After going for a regular scan to find out the baby’s gender, the light-hearted mood soon stopped after doctors found something was wrong.
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Scott said: ‘We were in the scan and we were all laughing with each other with the phonographer, and this phonographer just stopped laughing and she went really, really quiet.
‘The silence just started raising alarm bells. She left the room and somebody else came in, and that woman did another scan on Hayley and then left the room.’
Hayley added: ‘You could hear them having conversations between themselves. I’m lying there and nobody is telling me anything.’
Hayley was diagnosed with Potter’s syndrome, which affects the growth of newborns through a lack of fluid in the uterus.
A charity in Leeds helped fund blood tests for the couple which allowed them to discover the baby’s gender, which led to them naming her Ava-Joy.
Doctors believe when she’s born many of Ava-Joy’s organs won’t be developed, but they’re planning to donate heart valves and tissue to help those in need.
‘We can donate her heart valves,’ Hayley said.
‘What they can do is 24 to 48 hours after she passes away, they’ll come in and take her away, and with the heart valves they can store them up to 10 years. Anything is better than nothing.
‘I know she can’t donate proper organs but tissues are just as valuable. And I myself when I pass away, will happily give any of my organs up because I don’t need them anymore.’
Viewers couldn’t help but praise the couple for their bravery.
Heartbreaking story. Wishing Hayley and Scott all the best, what a selfless couple. #ThisMorning
— Natasha Louise
(@tashaontv) December 19, 2017
What an amazingly brave woman on #ThisMorning who will be giving birth to her stillborn baby to donate her organs. Wishing the family all the very best
— Natasha Devan (@natashadevan) December 19, 2017
You can catch This Morning weekdays on ITV at 10.30am.
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