PARENTS who lost their first baby to a rare hereditary kidney disorder are celebrating after the birth of their healthy baby girl.

Claire and David Vickery’s daughter was born on April 29, to the relief of the couple, from Spennymoor, County Durham, whose first baby survived only 20 minutes.

Lucy is settling in at her family’s home in Langmere, after spending nine days at Darlington Memorial Hospital recovering from mild jaundice.

The couple’s first baby, Harry, was born with a condition that doctors feared could prevail in future pregnancies.

While antenatal tests showed Lucy was healthy, the couple remained anxious for her health until her birth on the day of the royal wedding.

Yesterday, Mrs Vickery, 28, said: “She is 13 days old and it does not seem real sometimes.

“She is here and she is perfectly normal and there is nothing wrong.

“You just have to put your trust in the medical professionals and hope what you have been told is right.

“She was three-and-a-half weeks early, so she was slightly premature, but everything went very smoothly.

“I tried not to think about what had happened and just went with the flow.”

On January 11, last year, the couple were rocked when Harry, who was born prematurely, died.

Mrs Vickery found some comfort from stillbirth and neonatal death charity Sands, and from talking to women on the charity’s online forums.

She has set about raising money for Sands and North- East charity Sweet Dreams Our Angels. So far, she has raised £668 for both organisations, but is expecting that figure to double shortly.

Mr Vickery, a 32-year-old joiner, said he was proud of his wife for the way she has dealt with their loss and was “over the moon” at Lucy’s arrival.

Mrs Vickery said: “I am going to post some pictures of Lucy on the (Sands) website eventually and let people know what has happened.

“I want to be careful not to upset anyone, but I want to show people that you can try for another child.

“Just put your trust in the medical profession and try to think positively because something good can come in the end and you have got to believe that.”

The Sands website is at uksands.

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