Mum-of-five Beckie Smith is full of praise for the care and support she received from Walsall Healthcare’s continuity of care Harmony Team when she was trying to deal with complications in her latest pregnancy.

Little Mollie was born safely and healthily on 31 March this year weighing 9 pounds but the last few weeks before her birth had been incredibly stressful.

When Beckie was nearing the last 10 weeks of her pregnancy she had to go to the Women’s Hospital for an amniocentesis test as there were fears the baby was suffering from Hydrops fetalis, a serious, life-threatening condition in which a fetus or newborn has an abnormal build-up of fluids in the tissue around the lungs, heart, or abdomen, or under the skin. The distraught mum was told her baby had a one in five chance of survival in the worst case scenario.

“This was such a worrying time but Erica Kimberley from the Harmony Team was absolutely fantastic,” explained Beckie who lives in Pelsall.

“To be supported by the Harmony Team and given that one to one support was something that I hadn’t had in my other pregnancies and I really needed the reassurance because I was so very worried.

“Erica and I built up such a bond, so quickly, and she went above and beyond being a midwife – she treated me like a friend or a family member. She was always at the end of the phone and although my daughter was born on her day off she still popped to see me.”

Beckie, aged 38, who works for whg in Walsall added: “It’s so important to have that support as the anxiety and worry I felt could affect both the baby and me so to have someone so calming and capable meant such a lot to me. I can’t praise the Harmony Team enough, I really can’t.”