Our Appeal
Help families like Lauren and Phoenix's feel unstoppable by donating to our Appeal.
Lauren Wark was like any other expectant parent when she went along to a routine scan in August 2020 with her husband Gordon. Their world was turned upside down when the doctor told them that their unborn baby had spina bifida.
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“The news absolutely floored us. In that moment, we felt so scared and alone. I needed support but didn’t know where to turn.”
“After I received the news that my unborn baby had spina bifida, I remember lying in bed and crying because of all the uncertainty. I just didn’t know what was going on. And from there, my baby never stopped moving. It was almost like he was saying, ‘Mum, I’m here. Don’t be scared, it’s fine. I’m here’.”
Lauren, Phoenix’s Mum
Lauren found the support she needed from Spina Bifida Hydrocephalus Scotland. SBH Scotland’s Appeal will help support other families like Lauren’s who have just received a diagnosis of spina bifida and hydrocephalus. By supporting our Appeal, you will be helping raise vital funds to ensure families who don’t know where to turn, can access support.
Before falling pregnant with their son Phoenix, now four, Lauren and Gordon longed to be parents. They experienced issues conceiving and suffered some miscarriages, which was devastating. After the 20-week scan, they were left reeling at the news that their longed-for baby had spina bifida. While they tried to come to terms with the diagnosis, their doctor mentioned that there might be the option of surgery while the baby was still in the womb. Lauren and Gordon researched the options and decided to go ahead with in-utero surgery to close the gap in their baby’s back in Belgium through a partnership between the NHS and the University Hospitals Leuven.
They reached out to the charity SBH Scotland and spoke to a Family Support Worker to get some more information. While the surgery carried risks and would mean travelling to another country at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, Lauren was willing to do anything to help her unborn baby.
“I’m going to do anything to give my son a better life – or the best possible life. We had our surgery on the 8th of September 2020 and Phoenix sailed through it. The doctors said he was incredible the whole way through the operation. They successfully placed his spinal cord back into his back and closed the gap. When I wakened from the surgery, he was already awake and was moving around in my womb, which was such a relief.”
They returned home to Scotland and Lauren focused on recovering from the surgery. Phoenix was born premature, at 33 weeks, on 1st November 2020. He was in the NICU for a month before Lauren and Gordon could take him home.
Adjusting to life as a first-time mum was tough and Lauren found the support she needed at Spina Bifida Hydrocephalus Scotland. The charity put her in touch with other mums who also had children with spina bifida and hydrocephalus and were navigating the same challenges that she was.
“In a world that can make us feel different, the charity’s support means we are not alone.”
“Thanks to SBH Scotland, we found this whole new community of people out there in the same position as we were. You don’t know this community exists when you are first going through it and in the thick of it. We all come together at SBH Scotland’s once-a-month Family Groups, and it makes you feel less alone.”
Lauren has also received support from SBH Scotland’s Family Support Workers at clinics and medical appointments:
“Having SBH Scotland with you when you go to clinics is great as that can be daunting. We were quite recently a bit apprehensive about an appointment and the Family Support Workers were there to offer a bit of comfort, a bit of support and took things in for us in case we missed it. That support was unmatched.”
Phoenix has grown into a fun and inquisitive little boy and Lauren is enjoying watching him grow and develop:
“He is the happiest, kindest, funniest, most sassy, hilarious human being! Everyone who ever meets him, knows him. He chats to everyone - he’s so sociable and so caring.”
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As Phoenix gets older, he is getting more aware of his condition and asks questions about the scar on his back from the in-utero surgery.
“Sometimes he’ll say, ‘Mummy, I just don’t know how to walk’. It’s so sad for him, from a mother’s point of view, because he wants to walk. Not that he’s missing out on anything in life, or that it’s stopping him from doing the things that he wants to do or is capable of doing. It is sad because I’m his Mum and I want what’s best for him. I want the best possible life for him.”
Supporting our Appeal will help ensure that families like Lauren’s have the support they need to navigate the challenges that come with having a child with spina bifida and/or hydrocephalus. It will also ensure that Phoenix, and children like him all across Scotland, have the support they need to feel unstoppable and reach their full potential.
We need to raise £1.4 million each year. Our services rely on donations to survive. It’s so hard for us to raise funds just now. Will you give to make sure families like Phoenix’s get support in the face of challenges? Any donation you can give will have a big impact on the support we can give to all those who need our help, ensuring no one is left to cope alone.
- £15 donation can help fund sensory activities at Groups, allowing children to have fun and enjoy playing with friends. can help fund sensory activities at groups, allowing children to have fun and enjoy playing with friends.
- £25 donation can help fund a support visit to a child in hospital. Giving families the strength to cope during the most challenging times.
- £65 donation can help fund our Family Support Groups across Scotland. A space where children and adults can be themselves. Where they can be proud of who they are. Where they can feel unstoppable!
Other ways to Donate:
- Call 03455 211 600 (Monday to Friday 9am – 4pm) to donate via Credit/Debit Card
- Text SBHS to 70560 to donate £10 (Texts will cost the donation amount plus one standard network rate message)
- Send a Cheque, made payable to ‘SBH Scotland’ to SBH Scotland, The Dan Young Building, 6 Craighalbert Way, Dullatur, N. Lanarkshire, G68 0LS.
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