SWNS
Little Olivia Norton has been hailed a miracle by doctors - after being born without anyblood in her body.
The six-month-old little girl was born completely white because she had such a low count of haemoglobin - the chemical which carries oxygen in red blood cells - that it could not officially be classed as 'blood'.
She was given less than two hours to live but survived thanks to emergency transfusions which transformed her into a glowing healthy pink colour.
Olivia's mum Louise Bearman, 31, a barrister's clerk, told of her shock at giving birth to a 'ghost white' baby whose condition was so rare she will now feature in medical text books:
"Olivia was my first baby, so I didn't really know what to expect - but I certainly didn't think she'd be that colour. I'll never forget what the doctors notes said - 'white and floppy'. There were some complications before the birth, which was incredibly scary. Then when Olivia came out so white we didn't know what was going on.
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"It was such a relief when the doctors explained what was happening, and it was quite amazing when they put the blood in her and she slowly turned this amazing pink colour. She's such a lovely baby, it means everything having her at home now."
Louise and her greengrocer partner Paul Norton, 36, of Witham, Essex, first noticed something was wrong when Louise didn't feel Olivia kicking for three days.
They went to Broomfield Hospital, in Chelmsford, and when nurses failed to spot any movement after a 15 minute scan doctors ordered an emergency caesarean.
Olivia was born six weeks early at 8.20pm on September 10, weighing 5lbs 3oz with her heartbeat dipping dangerously low.
Haemoglobin is the protein which gives blood its characteristic red colour and ability to carry oxygen around the body.
When Olivia was born she had haemoglobin levels of just three out of a normal level of 18, which meant the plasma in her blood could not be classified as proper blood.
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The newborn was rushed to the hospital's special care baby unit where she was monitored for two weeks and had her strength and colour restored with two blood transfusions.
Neonatal nurse Sharon Pilgrim said in 20 years in the job she had never heard of such low haemoglobin levels:
"It was a miracle she survived. She was incredibly pale when born and had difficulties breathing. There was no sign of blood loss prior to the caesarean or during the operation. It was only when we carried out further tests on Louise that we discovered the baby had lost blood directly into her mum's blood circulation."
"The hospital staff were amazing and called Olivia the 'miracle baby' and said if I hadn't come in she would not have survived," says Louise.
"Doctors still don't know why it happened, it is one of those freak things. I want mums to realise how important a baby's movement is in checking they are healthy. You have to trust your maternal instinct."
Source: SWNS