After a pioneering operationwhen she was a baby, Lynne Gordon was told she could look forward to a long and healthy life. Then she fell pregnant.

Barry Nelson reports on how having a child put a young mum's life at risk - and the trauma of waiting for a transplant.

ONCE a month Lynne Gordon disappears for a few days. Her baby daughter has so many other members of her extended family to play with that Lynne says she hardly notices her absence.

But without her monthly visits for intensive drug therapy, 28-year-old Lynne would probably be unable to care for ten- month old Milly.

"Without the drug infusions I couldn't walk up a flight of stairs but, after the treatment, I can look after my daughter myself," says Lynne, who lives in Whitley Bay, near Newcastle.

The monthly visits are needed because Lynne has heart failure, a condition brought on by the strain of having her first child.

Lynne is no stranger to heart problems, hitting the headlines when she was only eight months old when surgeons carried out a then pioneering operation to re-align major arteries around her tiny heart. "When I was little I was told I was one of the first babies to survive such an operation," says Lynne, who expected to live a near-normal life.

Unlike many children born with congenital heart abnormalities, there was never any suggestion that Lynne should avoid childbirth when she was older. "I was fine all my life. I did sports at school. The only problem I had was a leaking heart valve which started when I was 12," she says.

After two years with her partner, Scott, Lynne became pregnant and the couple looked forward to normal family life. At first, things went well but, as the pregnancy progressed, Lynne's heart began playing up. "When I got to 38 weeks pregnant I became really ill," she recalls.

After the birth - which was carried out by Caesarian section - specialists diagnosed heart failure. "They told me that the strain of having Millie had damaged my heart," says Lynne.

Lynne was able to go home with her new baby and things went well for a few months. But her heart continued to cause problems and she was admitted for treatment at the Freeman Hospital, Newcastle.

Five months ago, surgeons told her she was so ill that the best long-term solution was a heart transplant. So, since March, Lynne has been waiting by the telephone at her home for a call which could mean a new life.

While she was shocked at the news that she needed a heart transplant she says that her background as someone with a congenital heart defect meant that she "just takes each day as it comes; most people in my situation do."

But despite having regular check-ups, Lynne was never told that having children was out of the question. And when asked whether she would have avoided getting pregnant if she had known that the birth would bring on heart failure, Lynne shakes her head.

"I would definitely go through it all again. Having Milly has been the highlight of my life and I wouldn't have missed it for anything."

Because there is a shortage of organ donors in the UK, most people waiting for transplants face a long wait. At the Freeman Hospital, a major transplant centre for the whole of Northern Britain and Ireland, patients can expect to wait around a year before getting a heart transplant.

Currently there are around 30 waiting for the chance of a new life.

Lynne is hoping that a transplant will come sooner rather than later, allowing her to get on with bringing up her daughter. "A transplant gives somebody their life back, somebody like me with a child to look after. If I have heart transplant I should be able to look after Milly for quite a few years," says Lynne.

While the former bakery worker waits for the call from the Freeman, she is getting all the support she needs from transplant staff at the hospital and from her own family.

"My partner Scott has been absolutely fantastic, especially when I became really unwell. A lot of men couldn't have coped," says Lynne.

Fortunately, the couple live close to Lynne's parents and her elder sister lives in the flat upstairs. "Milly is well looked after when I go off to the hospital every month. She doesn't even know I'm gone. There are so many other kids around here," laughs Lynne.

Her contact at the Freeman is Lyn Holt, one of the transplant co-ordinators who keeps in close touch with the families waiting for transplants and the families of potential donors.

Lyn has seen the number of transplants carried out at the Freeman fluctuate over the years but so far this year the signs are looking good.

"We have had a very busy summer so far: we carried out ten transplants in June and another seven in July. August started well but we haven't done anything for a week or so," she says. Since April 1, the overall total for heart, lung or heart-and-lung transplants carried out at the High Heaton hospital is 32.

"If we continue to carry out transplants at that rate we should end up doing more than the 79 we did in the last financial year," she says.

While Lyn is pleased when a transplant goes ahead, she is always conscious that one family's relief has to be balanced against another family's grief. "When I say we have had a good year so far, of course it is not good for everybody," she adds.

For a recent heart patient, four-year-old Connor Shaw, from Manchester, a donor came in the nick of time. After a history of major heart problems, Connor's condition was rapidly deteriorating. But following his transfer from the Alder Hey children's hospital in Liverpool to the Freeman, Connor underwent a heart transplant on June 22.

"I'm pleased to say that Connor is still with us and is making steady progress," says Lyn.

While many more people are aware of the national donor organ register these days, Lyn still encounters people who know very little about the life-saving work of transplant teams up and down the country.

"All I would say to people is please discuss the issue of organ donation with your family members so everyone knows where they stand," says Lyn. "Carrying a donor card is all very well, but unless your next of kin has been informed of your wishes, a transplant which could help a number of people could be halted."

Lynne Gordon knows only too well how important that could be. "I am really looking forward to getting that phone call," says Lynne, hugging her daughter.

For information about the NHS Organ Donor Register ring 0845 60 60400.