Three miracle babies last week returned to the hospital which helped keep them alive. IAN LLOYD spoke to their proud mums about the highs and lows of the last year.

Cate, Georgie, and Isobel together weighed barely the same as two bags of sugar when they were born prematurely last year.

Consequently the trio's entry into the world, with a combined weight of 3lb 13oz, was not greeted with the wholehearted optimism of most new births. Instead it was the beginning of an arduous journey for both them and their parents as they battled against the odds just to survive to see the next day.

Cate, a Caesarean birth, was born three months premature on July 7 last year, at University College Hospital, in central London, and weighed just 1lb 1oz. Her parents Lisa and Alex Posner of Clifford Road, New Barnet, had already been warned she had only a 40 per cent chance of survival.

"She was so tiny and frail," said Cate's mother Lisa, 33. "She was half the size she should have been. Length-wise she was probably about 20cm.

"When she was born I tried to distance myself because, although I loved her, I thought she was going to die. But Alex really celebrated and was very optimistic."

Cate had a catalogue of illnesses relating to prematurity. She had heart, eye and lung problems, numerous infections and nearly died several times.

She was moved to Barnet in early October last year where the couple met Tara and David Petri and Julie and Julian Redman whose babies were in a similar predicament.

"We just formed a really close friendship because we were going through the same thing," said Lisa. "It helped us through and it still does."

Thankfully, this is a happy story and another chapter was written on Saturday when the three now-bouncing babies and their parents visited Barnet Hospital's Starlight Ward to hand over £9,000 as a thank you for the treatment they received. The money, raised by a charity ball, will go towards a £26,000 state-of-the-art incubator.

Cate is now a healthy but mischievous 15-month-old. "She's such a happy baby," said Lisa.

Lisa will never forget the early months of Cate's life. "Tara, Isobel's mum, summed it up perfectly when she said it is like living in a parallel universe. You have got to be strong and cope because your children depend on you. You are full of this amazing strength you never knew you had whereas normally you would fall to pieces."

Julie Redman, 31, went into labour four months early with Georgie at Barnet Hospital on September 9 last year. She was born two days later weighing just 1lb 4oz.

"The hospital didn't expect Georgie to survive at all," said Julie. "On Saturday night when we got to the hospital they said the baby would be born within the hour and there would not be anything they could do. On the Sunday they started preparing for the chance that she may survive. It was a real rollercoaster.

"When Georgie was born, her eyes were still fused and she did look like a foetus she didn't look like a baby," said Julie who lives in East Barnet with her husband Julian, 32.

Georgie, finally left hospital in January. "I think there will always be a special bond between me and Georgie because she is just a little miracle," added Julie.

Isobel was born at Barnet Hospital on August 18 last year, 15 weeks premature an emergency Caesarean birth. Her parents Tara and David Petri, of Oaklea, Old Welwyn, were taken completely by surprise.

Isobel's main problem was her breathing. But a few days after she was born she caught an infection and had to be revived twice. "We were convinced she wasn't going to pull through, but she did," said Tara, 29. "It makes our relationship more and more precious.

Like Cate and Georgie, Isobel is an active and cheeky baby. "She knows how to get her own way her brain is bigger than her body size. When you have seen what she has been through and to see her now like a normal child is incredible for me."

October 23, 2001 15:36