Mum and gran thank ward for help with baby

From left: Lynn Bryant with daughter Hannah Bryant and her daughter Beau Davis, with staff nurse Helen Dean and senior sister, Jo Church.
Picture Ian Hargreaves (170518-1) — From left: Lynn Bryant with daughter Hannah Bryant and her daughter Beau Davis, with staff nurse Helen Dean and senior sister, Jo Church. Picture Ian Hargreaves (170518-1)

Hannah Bryant, 25, and her mother Lynn, 49, raised £1,400 for Queen Alexandra Hospital in Cosham.

The hospital’s neonatal ward cared for Hannah’s daughter Beau when she was born with bladder exstrophy.

Bladder exstrophy is an extremely rare condition which affects just one in 40,000 births. It occurs when the skin over the lower abdominal wall does not form properly, which causes the bladder to be on the outside. In baby girls, the condition is even rarer as it affects three times more males than females.

The condition is so rare that Queen Alexandra Hospital had never seen it before, which made it even more difficult to treat.

Lynn, Beau’s grandmother, said: ‘The care they gave her was absolutely amazing, especially considering they were basically working blind.’

So little is known about the condition that Queen Alexandra had to stay in regular contact with Great Ormond Street Hospital to consult them about the illness.

Beau, who has now just turned one, was born on May 4 last year, three days earlier than expected.

She stayed in the neonatal ward for five days before being moved to Great Ormond Street Hospital for major surgery.

Beau’s mother Hannah said: ‘It was so horrible when she was getting surgery. But she’s doing really well now. She’s much better. We really wanted to show our appreciation for all they did for us.’

The £1,400 worth of fundraising included a sponsored slim by Lynn.

Lynn, from Paulsgrove, said: ‘It wasn’t too bad. I just cut back on all the naughty things and lost 17 pounds.’

Lynn’s sponsored slim was sadly cut short when her father Leslie Fisher, from Paulsgrove, passed away, but the donations continued to pour in.

Leslie’s funeral in March also helped to raise funds for the hospital as the family requested donations instead of flowers.

Victoria Greenshields, fundraising manager for Portmouth Hospitals Charity based at QA, said ‘We are hugely grateful to Hannah and Lynn for raising such a fantastic sum of money. This generous donation will make a huge difference to the babies being treated within the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.’