WHEN doctors whisked her newborn baby away just minutes after he was born, first-time mum Emily Wiles feared the worst.
For weeks, Emily and partner Arron Sproxton watched their baby boy Oscar battle for life after he suffered distress during labour.
But, thanks to the care and dedication of staff in the neonatal intensive care unit (Nicu) at Hull Women and Children's Hospital, the couple were eventually able to bring their baby home when he was almost a month old.
Now, Emily, 20, and Arron, 22, are planning a sponsored walk across the Humber Bridge to raise cash for the unit, followed by a balloon release in memory of the babies who do not make it home.
Miss Wiles said: "I am so grateful for what they did for us and I just wanted to do something to say thank you.
"We saw so many babies come into the unit while we were there and I couldn't believe how small some of them were.
"We couldn't have asked for better care."
Miss Wiles had a normal pregnancy but experienced severe problems right at the end of her labour as she was giving birth to Oscar.
Although he was born weighing 8lb 9oz, Oscar had meconium aspiration, a serious condition caused when the baby experiences distress during labour. The umbilical cord was also wrapped around his neck.
Miss Wiles said: "I lost a lot of blood so I wasn't quite with it when he was born. I didn't have a clue what was going on.
"I'd never heard of meconium aspiration and all I knew was that he had trouble breathing."
Doctors rushed Oscar to the neonatal intensive care unit where they began their battle to save him while his mum was rushed to theatre to have her placenta removed.
She saw Oscar for the first time the day after he was born.
"They prepared us for the worst," she said. "They told us he was very, very poorly."
But as the days stretched into weeks, Oscar grew stronger and she was able to breast-feed him.
Eventually, after three and a half weeks, the young couple were allowed to take their baby home to Hessle.
"It was scary at first because he was on oxygen," Miss Wiles said. "But it was just amazing and we just appreciate every day we have with him."
While Oscar suffered brain damage during his delivery, his parents say he is managing to reach his development milestones and there is hope for the future.
"He's not doing too bad just now and we'll just see how he goes," she said. "He is reaching his milestones so everything is OK at the moment.
"We just appreciate having him so much and this is our way of saying thank you."
An events page has been set up on Facebook.
The sponsored walk will take place from 9am on Sunday, October 26.
Anyone who would like to have a balloon released at the end of the walk, which will be at about 11am, should call 07916 054985.
Visit gogetfunding.com to donate.
'The team is amazing, dedicated and gives a very high standard of care'Hull's neonatal intensive care unit (Nicu) cared for 517 sick babies last year.
Of those, 21 babies were born at less than 26 weeks old and 51 were born between 26 and 30 weeks.
Staff also cared for another 234 who were born between 31 and 36 weeks and 211 were born at more than 36 weeks.
The unit can take up to 26 babies and has five intensive care beds, seven high-dependency beds with the remaining 14 for special care.
The unit moved from the former maternity hospital in Hedon Road, east Hull, to Hull Women's and Children's Hospital in 2003.
Nicu also cares for babies from other units for specialist intensive care or surgery.
Tracey Bateman, a sister working at Nicu, said: "The team is amazing, dedicated and gives a very high standard of care.
"We receive a lot of support from parents whose children we've cared for and we're always very grateful."
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