BUT for an on-the-ball midwife at Ludlow Hospital and a mum’s decision not to race home after giving birth, a little baby from Clunbury would not be here.

It was all very routine for third-time mum Gemma Fletcher, aged 31, when she went into labour in the maternity ward at Ludlow Hospital.

“George was born very quickly and it was all very straight forward,” said Gemma, a teaching assistant at Clunbury School.

She could have gone home almost immediately but decided that a bit of a rest was in order and husband Sam, 31, could look after sons Jack, aged 7, and three-year-old Alfie.

It was a decision that would make a huge difference.

“George was born in the morning and all seemed fine, although in the evening he did not feed, but it was put down to his being born so quickly,” said Gemma.

However, by the following day, things were not looking so good with baby George still not feeding.

“The midwife who delivered George came on duty and was not happy about the situation and got the ball rolling,” added Gemma.

It was decided that George needed a more extensive examination and he would have to go to Telford. There followed an agonising wait of more than an hour for an ambulance from Shrewsbury.

When George got to Telford, Gemma and Sam, a self-employed mechanical engineer, were given the devastating news that their baby was seriously ill and would need to go to either Birmingham Children’s Hospital or Great Ormond Street in London.

“A high-dependency ambulance was sent to take George to Birmingham and they were brilliant,” said Gemma.

“But they were very honest with us and told us that George might not survive the journey.”

Fortunately he did and, within hours, was in theatre for an exploratory operation that revealed a serious problem with his bowel caused by an infection.

Two days later and still only four days old, baby George was back in the operating theatre for an operation that involved removing a section of his bowel.

Gemma and Sam have remained at his bedside and been allocated a room at the Ronald McDonald home where parents and family of very sick children can stay, while brothers Jack and Alfie are looked after by family back in Clunbury.

Doctors have also discovered that little George has a heart problem and believe that this may have resulted in the infection.

“If the midwife had not been so on-the-ball and realised something was seriously wrong, or I had gone home earlier, we would not have George now,” said Gemma.

“We have been told that he has pda and may require heart surgery. So George is not out of the woods yet and we know that we have a long road ahead of us.”

Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) is a heart problem that occurs soon after birth in some babies. In PDA, abnormal blood flow occurs between two of the major arteries connected to the heart.

Before birth, the two major arteries - the aorta and the pulmonary artery - are connected by a blood vessel called the ductus arteriosus. This vessel is an essential part of foetal blood circulation.

Within minutes, or up to a few days after birth, the vessel is supposed to close as part of the normal changes occurring in the baby's circulation.

In some babies, however, the ductus arteriosus remains open. This opening allows oxygen-rich blood from the aorta to mix with oxygen-poor blood from the pulmonary artery.

It can put strain on the heart and increase blood pressure in the lung arteries.

With Sam unable to work whilst George is so ill, both parents are staying at the hospital and they know that it will be a long time before George is well and that extended treatment will be needed.

A site has been set up to enable people to make a contribution to the costs that the young family from south Shropshire will face https://www.gofundme.com/2jz493r8