Hope was never lost on Louise Warneford, a mom who experienced 18 miscarriages before she finally gave birth to her first child at the age of 48. She wrote about the inspiring birth story of her son in the book titled Baby Dreams.
Warneford, who works as a writer in the U.K., had no baby photos to share her pregnancy with her only child, William. In an interview with Today, the mom said she didn't allow pictures while pregnant because she thought she would suffer through a miscarriage again. She said the photographs would only bring sad memories.
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However, the pregnancy progressed until the 37th week, and she was able to give birth to a healthy boy who turned five years old in 2021. Recounting that moment when she held William for the first time, Warneford said it felt like winning the lottery.
"All the doctors and nurses were in tears because they knew my story," she told Today.
A Heartbreaking Journey
Warneford decided to write Baby Dreams to share her heartbreaking journey from going through 18 miscarriages before becoming a mother at 48. The mom said that her rainbow baby would not have happened if not for the help of her OBGYN, Dr. Hassan Shehata.
The doctor explained that her body's natural killer cells (NK cells) are unusually elevated, which explains her numerous miscarriages. The NK cells work to boost the immune system and ward off infection, but in Warneford's case, the NK cells saw her pregnancy as cancer or virus and worked to terminate the pregnancy.
For years, experts have been studying the links of NK cells to miscarriage and pre-eclampsia, citing a third of miscarriages involved women with elevated levels of NK cells.
However, studies have also revealed that different kinds of treatment for this condition help women carry the pregnancy to full term.
Warneford went through various treatments like blood thinners, steroids, and a baby aspirin with her doctor's guidance. She and her husband, Mark, also enlisted a donor embryo to increase their chances of a healthy pregnancy. Before she knew it, she was carrying William at 14 weeks, past the risky mark of a pregnancy term. Then, on June 1, 2016, she and Mark welcomed William into the family.
A Mission to Help Other Moms
Warneford hopes that Baby Dreams will help other women feel more comfortable about discussing their experiences with miscarriage or the challenges of getting pregnant. She reveals she's on a mission to help more women so they won't have to go through the same journey.
In launching Baby Dreams, Warneford has also opened an Instagram page where moms can freely talk about their bodies. The social media page is also a collection of William's photos through the years. Warneford said in one of the posts that having William in her life "made it all worth it" despite the 18 miscarriages.
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