South Shields mum battled through the pain to have 'miracle' baby after her own health fight

Lauren Davis, 28, who has also become an author after her health journey, hailed her son Jesse-James Taylor, who is now aged 2, as ‘quirky, really funny and lush’.

She admitted: “There are some days when I look at him and I think it is unbelievable that he is here.”

Lauren has retold her story after publishing a book based on her life with a curvature of the spine (scoliosis).

She was only 10 years old when she was diagnosed. The condition was so severe, medics warned she would need to undergo an operation within days if she was to have any chance of surviving.

Unknown to the youngster and her family, the condition had led to her heart and lungs being crushed.

She went on to have a further six operations, including one on her stomach, in a bid to make life more bearable.

“After the first five operations, a consultant told me in 2016 that I would never carry because of the amount of metal work I’d had.”

But then Lauren had a sixth bout of surgery to re-curve her spine and, afterwards, she was given some amazing news. “They said I could carry a baby and I started crying. I was crying my eyes out. It was surreal.”

Jesse-James came into the world in 2020 after a pregnancy in which Lauren had 10 scans before giving birth by Cesarean section at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle. She said the pain during pregnancy was ‘horrific but it was 100 per cent worth it’.

She recalled the day her son came into the world. She was originally due to have an epidural but that didn’t work and the option changed to a ‘spinal’.

"They tried for 45 minutes but they could not put the spinal in,” said Lauren.

Eventually, she had to be given a general anaesthetic for the procedure.

Also there was James Taylor to watch his son being born. Lauren said: “He had to leave the room when they said they were going to anaesthetise me. Then he heard the screams and it was Jesse crying.

"I was awake three hours later.”

Jesse-James starts nursery later this month. Lauren said: “He is his own kid. Everyone says he does what he wants. He is quirky, really funny and lush.”

Lauren has used her personal experiences to write and illustrate a children’s book which is about a dinosaur called Sonny the Tyrannosaurus Rex who has scoliosis and his friends who also have health struggles.

The book, called The Scoliosaurus, is available on Amazon at £6.50.

Lauren added: “It shows the hump on his back. He can’t breathe properly and it also shows it is okay to be different and it is not a bad thing. Everything to do with the dinosaur is something that I went through.”

Lauren is also working on a publication called The Rainbow Snail which should be published later this year, once Jesse-James has started nursery. It is about a snail who has autism.