Grateful mum names son after doctor who made his birth possible

A mum who feared she would lose her baby has named her son after the doctor who made his birth possible.

Lauren Davies named her baby Jarek after Dr Jaroslaw Beta who is known to colleagues and service users as Jarek.

The 38-year-old single mum of three, from Chatham, was under the care of Dr Beta after she was referred by her midwife and Consultant Obstetric Physician Dr Carol Postlethwaite to our Fetal and Maternal Medicine Centre in August last year. The centre is a commissioned unit for the south east of England, supporting not only women in Medway and Swale, but women with high-risk pregnancies in Kent and Essex.

She said: “I really cannot explain how wonderful Dr Beta is. I can say for certain that baby Jarek would not be here if I hadn’t met him when I did and put my faith and trust in him.”

As well as having epilepsy and suffering from severe vomiting during pregnancy, which affects the medication she takes to stop her seizures, Lauren was diagnosed with cervical insufficiency, where the neck of the womb weakens or opens too early in pregnancy leading to premature birth or miscarriage.

She said: “When I found out I was pregnant I was happy but I was also anxious because after I lost my second baby Frank at 18 weeks and one day in 2014, I was told it was due to me having an incompetent cervix and that I would require intervention to help me carry any future pregnancies to term. Jarek’s due date was also the same day as Frank’s.”

Lauren said: “The pregnancy was extremely stressful, complex and difficult. I was monitored regularly, had multiple admissions to hospital with bleeds, as well as high blood pressure which was affecting the growth of the baby, plus the surgery but Jarek survived it all.

“When I told Dr Beta in March, following an appointment, that I was going to name my son after him he almost leapt out of his chair exclaiming “Oh my goodness, are you really? I can’t believe it. This has made me very happy. Thank you”.

“I explained to him that it was a no brainer and that all the other name ideas were thrown out the window from the day I met him.

“Dr Beta was going to carry out my caesarean and the plan was to say ‘Jarek meet little Jarek’ but the baby scuppered those plans by coming into the world when he wanted to so they didn’t actually meet until the morning of our discharge day.

“It was such a heart-warming moment seeing the two of them together and seeing how proud Dr Beta was holding him.”

Although Jarek is doing well he still requires regular reviews due to one enlarged ventricle of the brain caused by a build-up of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). In fact one of Jarek’s middle names is Gavin in recognition of Dr Gavin Guy, Consultant Obstetrician and Subspecialist in Feto-Maternal Medicine, who implemented plans to monitor Jarek while he was in the womb after the condition known as ventriculomegaly was discovered.

Lauren added “I cannot fault any of the teams and individuals that looked after me and Jarek both during and after my pregnancy. There are too many people to thank but they know who they are and everyone went above and beyond to ensure I got my happy ending.”

Dr Beta said: “I am absolutely delighted and honoured that Lauren decided to name her son after me and that we were able to support her to have a successful pregnancy.”

July marks the 25th anniversary of maternity services and the neonatal unit transferring from All Saints Hospital in Chatham to Medway Maritime Hospital.

As part of the celebrations, Lauren and baby Jarek will be attending a special public exhibition hosted by our maternity and neonatal teams in the Atrium, Level 2 Green Zone, from 10am to 4pm on Monday 8 July.

In addition to displays of photos and memorabilia, midwives, specialist midwives and neonatal nursing staff will be available to talk to patients and visitors about their work, advances in medicine and technology and the different services available today compared to 1999.