The moment Studio 10 host Angela Bishop got the news no mother wants to hear
Ten years ago, Studio 10 host Angela Bishop went through one of the hardest times of her life.
When Angela was pregnant with her daughter Amelia, doctors discovered in her ultrasound at 19 weeks that her baby had a congenital heart condition.
"If they hadn't picked up the problem in the ultrasound at 19 weeks, she could have died," Angela told ten daily.
When Angela gave birth to her daughter, she gave her a quick kiss and a hug before she was whisked away to surgery so the doctors could treat the serious issue.
Amelia in the Grace Centre. Image via ten daily.
"I had a very easy delivery, just a few hours, and we would very likely have been sent home quite quickly because they wouldn't have known anything was wrong and, without treatment, we would have lost her."
At just two days old, Amelia had heart surgery to treat her pulmonary heart stenosis. Angela’s newborn daughter then spent five days at the Grace Centre for Newborn Care at the Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, in the care of staff who are specialised in helping babies.
Now, 10 years later, Amelia has asked her mum if they could help the Grace Centre and all the newborns who are currently there.
The centre is fitted with beds, ventilators and other expensive equipment that helps the Grace Centre maintain its 98 per cent survival rate.
“The advances in medical technology are accelerating and we are greedy,” said Professor Nadia Badawi, Medical Director at the Grace Centre.
“We want the best, and those babies and their families, they deserve the best. They did not ask to be born unwell.”
Knowing that the Grace Centre saved her life, Amelia hopes to raise funds, so the ward can purchase the best possible technology for the newborns.
Two years ago, at the age of 8, Amelia spoke at the Annual Grace Gala in front of a room of 400 people to share her story.
For more information and to donate to the Grace Centre, click here.