New mum describes giving birth during coronavirus lockdown as she welcomes adorable Seaham twins

When Leah Pudy and Lewis Fairley fell pregnant they never expected to be bringing their baby girls into a world hit by a global pandemic.

But on Monday, April 20, the Seaham couple met their daughters Alyssia Rose Fairley and Aria Lily Fairley for the first time surrounded by midwives dressed in full PPE.

And a moment of overwhelming happiness was closely followed by the gutting realisation that new dad Lewis, a carpet fitter at Fulwell Carpet Centre, would have to leave Leah and the twins for the next three days inline with the measures in place because of the ongoing coronavirus crisis.

Now Leah, a nursery nurse, has described what it’s like to have your first children under the current measures brought in to protect families from Covid-19 and has thanked the midwives who did everything they could for the new parents.

The 23-year-old, who spoke to the Echo while she was still in hospital, said: “My labour was really fast it was only two hours. By the time I got here when my partner dropped me off, I went in and the baby’s head was nearly showing .

“They rang for him to come back practically straight away and he made it here just in time for the births.

“The midwives were so lovely, they were all wearing masks and PPE but I didn’t really notice.

“They were just so lovely and they were brilliant with my partner – he was able to stay until we were moved onto a different ward which was about four and a half hours. Then he had to go home.”

Alyssia Rose, who weighed 5lbs 3.5oz, was born at 7.20pm and just nine minutes later Aria Lily, 5lbs 3oz, arrived at 35 weeks and one day and they’re both doing ‘amazing’.

Having spent three days alone on the ward, Leah and the girls have now been discharged from Sunderland Royal Hospital and the family-of-four are back together at home.

But instead of being surrounded by close family and friends, Leah doesn’t even know when her own mum, Janice Purdy, who is a grandmother for the first time, will be able to hold and cuddle her granddaughters.

Leah said: “It’s gutting for mine and Lewis’ mam. For my mam, it’s her first grandchild and she wasn’t allowed to come in for the birth.

“It is heartbreaking but it’s what is best for the girls and we want to keep them safe.

“It does mean that they can’t properly come and see us but we’ll be doing a lot of window visits with close family when we get home.

“FaceTime has been a godsend especially for my partner for him to be able to see them all the time.

“It’s so hard for dads having to leave their babies and partners.

“I want to thank the NHS, they are just amazing. Even though all of this is going on they still continue to support everyone and they made it feel as normal as it can be for us.”

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