Towards the end of Carol’s pregnancy we learned there had been an increase in babies born in Gibraltar with spina bifida and that the parents of those children had to make life or death decisions regarding their child; for the child to survive it appeared it would need to be flown to UK for an operation almost immediately after birth. At the time spina bifida wasn’t something they could detect before birth and so naturally it was very shocking and traumatic for parents to be given such news on the spot – doubly so being asked to make that split decision straight away.
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Rumour had it that the ‘spina bifida outbreak’ was as a result of something to do with the water so it appeared all expectant mums were at risk; our fate was in the lap of the gods. Carol and I talked endlessly about our worries and concerns, at length, day in day out, losing sleep about being faced with such an appalling situation. Decades later that tension (to me) still feels like a living nightmare.

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It was against that backdrop I woke up one morning to find Carol really distressed in the bed saying the baby was coming even though it was nowhere near due. I nearly threw up. Naturally I went straight into overdrive, sent for the transport to take her to RNH and contacted friends to mind the children. Once in hospital Colonel Price and his team managed to stop Carol’s premature labour with medication and planned to keep her in overnight to monitor her; six weeks later she was still there. 

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