“After the first session, we were completely sold!”

Lauren* was an identical twin but sadly, after developing twin to twin transfusion syndrome, her sister died at 19 weeks. Lauren was born extremely prematurely at 25 weeks gestation, weighing just 618g. When she was born, she had septicaemia and was intubated. She couldn’t tolerate anything in her stomach and had to have nutrients via an arterial line. Lauren spent 208 days in the neonatal unit and was oxygen dependent at discharge.

“When you leave hospital with a child who has needed acute care, they are not fixed. They just don’t need 24-hour nursing anymore. You just move on to a different phase of care” Laura’s father, Liam, told us.

Lauren was initially referred to the Osteopathic Centre for Children (OCC) by a breastfeeding support clinic.

“After the first session, we were completely sold!” says Liam.

“I was holding her during the treatment, and I could feel the change in her. The tension left her body. After, she was instantly babbling, smiling and giggling,” continued Katrina, Lauren’s mother.

Over the past few months, Lauren and her parents have kept coming to OCC clinics for further treatment.

“This has been the only medical intervention we have had outside of the hospital,” says Katrina. “It feels so empowering to be able to do something that helps your child when you’ve had nothing but observations since being discharged from hospital! Lauren benefits massively from treatment. The first time we saw Stuart he said straight away that her lungs were underdeveloped. He immediately identified it and knew exactly what attention was required. There have been incremental changes each time we come. All of it has helped.”

Lauren has severe gastro-oesophageal reflux disease and is predominantly tube fed.

“She used to heave so much that the tube would come out of her nose. The feeding tubes are meant to last for up to 90 days, but we were having to insert a new one several times a week, her vomiting was so forceful.”

The osteopaths at the OCC have been working on Lauren’s feeding issues. “After a treatment session about 7 weeks ago – when they started working on Laura’s feeding – she has not heaved out a single feeding tube out her nose. She has had the same tube in situ since 19/09 now [nearly a month at the time of writing] – a record since she came home from hospital!”

For now, Lauren still needs her feeding tube. “Getting rid of the feeding tube is the last big medical hurdle now,” says Liam. But, now aged 1, Laura is no longer on oxygen, is ejecting her feeding tube much less frequently and her quality of life is improving.

“I can finally take her swimming and it’s easier to get outside and enjoy our time together. Laura loves animals, especially her pet dog, Honey. She really enjoys being outside in nature and she loves the water,” Katrina told us.