Tiny 'little warrior' baby who weighed just 11oz at birth finally comes home after 18 months in hospital

The parents of one of Britain's smallest ever babies are celebrating finally taking her home – after she spent all her young life in hospital.

Robyn weighed in at just over 11oz when she arrived on March 8, 2023, making her the tiniest baby ever born in Wales.

Born at Grange Hospital in Cwmbran, Robyn was intubated and placed in a sandwich bag to keep her vital organs warm while she grew.

Her parents Daniel and Chantelle Chambers from Newport said it was a 'dream come true' to take their 'little warrior' home more than a year after Robyn was born.

Due to her small size and conditions, she has lived in hospital ever since she was born 18 months ago, including celebrating her first birthday at Grange.

Six months after her birth, Robyn was moved for seven months to the paediatric intensive care unit at Noah's Ark Children's Hospital in Cardiff - before going back to Grange until she was discharged in September.

Chantelle, 34, expressed her relief at being able to take her daughter back home after their long ordeal in the hospital, including Robyn contracting a near-fatal lung infection.

She said: 'We were really excited to bring her home – it was like a dream come true really after how long we spent in hospital it just seemed like it was never going to happen.

'We almost lost her in May, and that was a really difficult time when she got a chest infection, but since then she's just got stronger.'

'In the last three months she really progressed well and she became well enough for us to bring her home,' she continued.

Chantelle recalled doing '12-hour shifts' at the hospital after Robyn was born, explaining the husband-wife duo only saw each other 'for an hour or two a day' but that they're 'more of [a] family at home' now.

Robyn has a complex medical background and has been diagnosed with numerous conditions meaning she needs 24-hour care – which is currently being given by her parents.

She has stage three hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), cerebral palsy, epilepsy and severe apnoea (obstructive and central) and is fed via an NG (nasogastric) tube.

Chantelle explained that she had a normal pregnancy with no signs that she would give birth to a premature baby.

She said: 'I went to my 20-week scan and everything was ok with Robyn at the time.

'They said that the baby looked fine but my cervix was starting to open slightly which obviously meant that I could go into labour quite early.

'They kept me in hospital after my 20-week scan just in case I did go into labour - she then came three weeks later.

'It has been really hard – it is my first child and you wouldn't expect that something like that would happen to you.'

After Robyn's birth, doctors said she had a 'very small chance' of survival.

Chantelle added: 'They were really shocked as they had never seen a baby so small.

'They said it was new for them and that they didn't know how she would develop and how she developed in the womb.

'All the time we were in hospital they weren't very optimistic – it was only in the last few months that they changed their opinion.'

Robyn's parents are raising much needed funds to pay for Robyn's essential treatments, therapies and equipment needed to help her development.

Whilst in hospital, she has fought an incredible battle including getting off the ventilator multiple times, contracting sepsis, receiving 16 blood transfusions, suffering lumbar punctures, and undergoing abdominal surgery.

They want to be able to provide her with regular, consistent therapies and want her to attend intensive therapy courses.

She will need specialist equipment such as trikes, wheelchairs and seating that will enable her to develop as much as she can.

Chantelle said that all the care for Robyn is 'very expensive' and they are hoping to raise £100,000.

'We haven't been able to do much fundraising ourselves because we have been in hospital but we have had many friends and family doing fundraising events and they have managed to raise a lot.

'We are very grateful to everyone who has donated so far.'