By Phil Coleman

Last updated 12:24, Monday, 12 May 2008

THEY came into the world early, embracing each other like the best friends they will no doubt become.

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Holding on: Max and Jude at two weeks at Glasgow Southern General Hospital

Twin brothers Jude and Max Harper are all the proof you need to be sure that front line medical staff in the NHS are among the world’s best.

When they were born nine weeks prematurely on January 27, the brothers were tiny, Max weighing just 1lb 15oz, and Jude 2lb 10z.

But the expert care they and their mother Nicky Harper received at hospitals in Carlisle, Newcastle, and Glasgow ensured they got the best possible start in life, despite their early arrival.

Nicky, 36, a teacher at Brampton Infants school, and her husband Andy, 30, wanted to tell their sons’ story to highlight the dedication and professionalism of the NHS staff who cared for them.

The drama began in the early hours of January 16 when Nicky woke to find that her waters has broken.

“It was 1.11 am because I remember looking at the beside clock,” recalls Nicky. “I knew I was having twins, and that they would probably come early, but I was expecting it to be in the 36th week.

“I’d seen a newspaper story about somebody who’d had a baby at 27 weeks, and it was OK, so I wasn’t worried.

“When we rang the maternity unit at the Cumberland Infirmary they were really calm. When we got up there, they made us feel there wasn’t much to worry about.”

After taking scans, medics gave Nicky steroid injections to help boost the lung development of the twins should they be born too soon.

She was then transferred to the labour ward of the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle to await developments. Andy followed the ambulance in his car.

Nicky said: “The staff told us that they often dealt with babies who were born earlier, so if ours were born they could deal with it.”

Tests showed that only Jude’s amniotic sack had broken, while Max’s remained intact. Despite this, Nicky did not, as expected, go into labour and she was discharged on Monday, January 21. She was put on antibiotics because it was thought it may have been an infection which had caused her waters to break.

The next significant happening came at 5am on Friday, January 25, as Nicky felt soreness in her back.

Again, she and Andy, a senior transport policy officer with Cumbria County Council, went to the infirmary, where the doctors arranged for her immediate transfer to Glasgow’s Southern General Hospital because no bed was available in Newcastle.

Max and Jude were finally born together by Caesarian section at 11.57 on Sunday, January 27, after doctors became concerned that Jude’s heart rate was slowing.

Nicky said: “They were holding each other, so they were born at the same time. They were so tiny.

“We thought they’d need to be on ventilators, but they cried as soon as they were born and could breathe on their own, but they were taken straight to special care.”

As with most premature babies, the brothers were given help with their breathing through a CPAP oxygen machine and Max needed an operation to remove a snapped feeding tube from his belly button.

“That was the worst bit for us,” said Nicky. “But there’s been absolutely nothing wrong with them. Everybody involved was absolutely fantastic.

“From the minute we walked into special care, we were told exactly what was going to happen. We were encouraged to get involved, even when our boys were just a few days old, so that we were changing their nappies.

“The medical staff and nurses at all the hospitals – including Carlisle and Newcastle – were brilliant.

“When I went into labour in Glasgow, the midwife was trying to get Andy somewhere to stay, ringing round trying to get him the cheapest deal.

“They looked after the whole family, not just me. They still found time to make us comfortable and chat to us. There was a lot that they did which wasn’t part of the job.”

Meanwhile, Max and Jude were transferred to the Cumberland Infirmary on February 14, and came home on March 19. They have gone from strength to strength, both gaining weight, with Max now weighing a healthy 6lbs 2.5oz, and Jude 7lbs 13oz.

Nicky and Andy couldn’t be more proud of their sons – or more grateful to the dedicated NHS staff who kept them safe.

PColeman@cngroup.co.uk