A brave mum who thought her premature baby would die has featured in a new promotional video to help raise money for the unit that helped her tiny son survive.

Hayley Holmwood was filmed while her son was being treated in the Oliver Fisher Special Care Baby Unit at Medway hospital.

Oscar was born on August 16, 11 weeks before his due date. He weighed just 2lb 1oz.

Miss Holmwood gave birth at Medway hospital then her premature son was taken to King’s College in London to have emergency surgery on his bowel.

The 30-year-old said she and her fiancé of 14 years, Craig Riddick, expected the worst.

“It was all a bit rushed,” she said.

“When I got to Medway hospital they tried to stop the labour by drawing fluid out of my belly. They planned on keeping me in overnight and monitoring me.

“They wanted to keep the baby in for as long as possible, as his survival rate would have been a lot higher.

“We were then meant to go to King’s so he could be born there and have the operation on his bowel, but it all happened so quickly.

“As soon as they said they couldn’t stop the labour, I thought the worst.

“I was only 29 weeks – I thought he was going to die.”

As soon as Oscar was born, doctors had to stabilise him before he could be taken to London by ambulance.

Miss Holmwood, of Windmill Rise, Minster, said: “When the consultant came in, he didn’t look very confident and he said, ‘that didn’t go to plan’.

“He then told us about the operation Oscar needed. I really didn’t think he would make it through surgery. He was so tiny.

“I got to hold him for about five seconds after he was born.

“They took him away to stabilise him and I didn’t get to see him again properly until I got to London that night, so I was left in the delivery room for hours without him until I was discharged.”

Oscar was just two days old when the operation was carried out and consultants said the procedure would take around three hours.

Miss Holmwood, who was unable to hold her boy for a week after the birth, said: “I was really nervous. We were waiting about five hours before we heard anything. It was the longest five hours ever.

“It was horrible.”

Oscar was in the neonatal intensive care unit at King’s College for five weeks before he was transferred to the Oliver Fisher Special Care Baby Unit at Medway – where he was treated for a further two weeks.

But the little fighter defied the odds and, nearly four months on, he is happy and healthy and enjoys cuddles from his big brother Murphy, 11, and sister Miley, seven.

He now weighs 7lb and Miss Holmwood would like to thank the Oliver Fisher staff for their efforts.

She said: “The staff were lovely. They were so friendly and positive. We cannot thank them enough for all they did.

“The aftercare from Medway once he was discharged was brilliant too. Staff were in contact with me constantly, even bringing medicine for him to me at home if I needed it.

“He is still under the consultant now and needs to see him every three months to check he is doing well.”

The Oliver Fisher Special Care Baby Unit at Medway hospital has 32 cots including eight intensive care cots.

It is the largest unit in the county and cares for babies born prematurely or who are sick and need intensive care.

Each year, around 800 babies are admitted to the unit.

Miss Holmwood also wanted to say thank you to the Ronald McDonald House charity, which provides free accommodation at specialist children’s hospitals across the country to enable families to stay close to their child and maintain a degree of normal family life.

The couple and their two children stayed at the London house for five weeks whilst Oscar underwent treatment at King’s College Hospital.

“The first two nights Oscar was at King’s we had to pay £150 a night for a hotel. We could never have been able to fund that for five weeks,” she said.

“The Ronald McDonald house didn’t cost us a penny. It really was the biggest help through the whole thing.

“Just being able to walk over to the hospital to see Oscar whenever we wanted to was lovely.

“People from the charity came round to the ward and asked if we needed anywhere to stay and they moved us in the same day.

They even supplied some food and snacks for parents who spent all day, every day at the hospital with their babies - so we didn’t even have to worry about that.

“It was a massive weight lifted from our shoulders and we were able to just concentrate on getting Oscar bigger and stronger.”

Miss Holmwood said she had seen families of ill children using the Ronald McDonald homes on Children in Need, but she “never thought in a million years” that her family would have to use one.

The charity has donation boxes in every McDonald’s at the tills and drive-thru windows. To find out more or to donate, visit www.rmhc.org.uk

Donate to the Oliver Fisher Special Care Baby Trust.