A couple have spoken of their joy at holding the baby they feared they would never have, after enduring 13 miscarriages.
Haider (pictured above) and Ayshia Zaman had been trying to have a baby for 18 years, but every time Ayshia became pregnant she would miscarry at between six to 12 weeks.
The couple experienced a total of 13 miscarriages before they finally welcomed a healthy six-pound baby boy - who they've called Awais Haider - following pioneering treatment.
"There are no words to express the feelings going through my mind," said Ayshia from Small Heath. "It was a dream come true.
"I went through the pregnancy spending every day just hoping my dream wouldn't be shattered."
Specialists at Heartlands Hospital's recurrent miscarriage clinic, in Birmingham, believe Ayshia's pregnancy problems were caused by 'sticky' blood cells.
These cells formed clots, resulting in a loss of blood flow and triggering miscarriages.
The Heartlands medical team, led by specialist Professor Siobhan Quenby, put Ayshia on an intensive drug and steroid regime to increase and free the blood flow around her womb, allowing baby Awais to develop.
Her treatment involved the steroid prednisolone, progesterone and injections of a drug called Clexane.
"It was one of the hardest nine months of my life," Ayshia told the Birmingham Mail. "As always at the back of my mind was the thought, what if it went wrong again? And if I did that I would feel like a failure.
"Every scan appointment was daunting."
Ayshia gave birth by caesarean section at Heartlands on July 10.
"After years of waiting, my dream has finally come true," she said. "When I gave birth, it was a joyful, yet upsetting time as my husband's parents passed away before getting to see their first grandchild.
"However, words can't explain how I felt when I had the baby. It's still not sunk in that I have a baby. I would say to anyone in similar circumstances to never give up hope and that dreams can come true."
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