A YOUNG mother is hoping her community will rally round to support her bid to raise funds for the hospital which saved her baby daughter's life from a rare birth defect.

Carolyn Mecklenburgh's daughter, Amanda, was born early weighing 5lbs and soon began worrying the doctors.

"They weren't really sure what the problem was at first, it was a bit of a mystery," explains Carolyn, who lives in Sedbury.

"I was bottle feeding at the time and she just kept throwing up. At first they thought there was something wrong with her swallowing. Then they noticed a dark area on her lungs which they thought was some form of crystallization, which is quite common in premature babies apparently and often disperses.

"They did an ultrasound and then transferred her from Southmead to St Michael's and kept her in a few more days. It was then she went over to breast milk and from then on she then seemed absolutely fine."

That didn't last. A few days after settling back home at Buttington Court, Amanda went downhill fast.

"I was still breast feeding," says Carolyn. "But on the 18th day she seemed really unsettled, bringing her food up and then she began to 'head bob' which I now know is a sign of breathing difficulties."

Rushed back to St Michael's, Amanda was put under observation at the Special Care Baby Unit.

"They had to put her in an oxygen box which went completely over her head and helped her breath."

By this time the doctors had realised Amanda had what's called a 'diaphragmatic hernia', a rare condition occurring in only about one in every 5,000 live births.

"It means there's a split in the diaphram, which means all her organs, like her heart and liver, were being pushed up to her lungs, making it really difficult for her to breath," explained Carolyn.

"They operated the following day. It took four and a half hours to seal the split and get all the organs back in their rightful place. If she hadn't had it done she simply wouldn't have survived.

"And the reason it took so long is that Amanda had a pretty unique hernia on the right hand side towards the back of the lung area. That's really unusual because they're normally on the left hand side."

Amanda's now a bouncing and healthy three and a half months old.

"She's doing really well," says Carolyn proudly. "Eating well and growing and smiling all the time – my unique little baby."

As a thank you to the Special Care Baby Unit at St Michael's, the former Wyedean student is now gearing herself up to raise money through a 6km buggy push on October 9. She's joining up with the 'Special Care Angels' http://www.specialcareangels.org">www.specialcareangels.org and is organising a raffle draw – with some prizes already donated by the Two Brewers pub in Bulwark.

•If you want to support Carolyn, you can get in touch through the Review or via the Special Care Angels.