I had to fight for my child with Downs Syndrome after the hospital booked me a ... trends now

I had to fight for my child with Downs Syndrome after the hospital booked me a ... trends now
I had to fight for my child with Downs Syndrome after the hospital booked me a ... trends now

I had to fight for my child with Downs Syndrome after the hospital booked me a ... trends now

A mum has revealed how she had to fight to keep her unborn son, after tests showed he had Down's syndrome before he was born - and hospital staff assumed she'd want to terminate the pregnancy.  

Natalie O'Rourke, from Teddington, joined Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield on ITV's This Morning to raise awareness on World Down Syndrome Day, saying having a child born with an extra chromosome is not something to be feared.

O'Rourke, who runs a stables to help people with disabilities ride horses in West London, spoke about the moment she was told her son Woody, ten, had Down's syndrome during a routine pregnancy scan.

She said: 'I didn't know how far along I was because it was an unplanned pregnancy, so I went in for a dating scan and you can just tell straight away something was wrong, the nurse said "I need to leave the room and go and get my colleague" but didn't tell me what was going on.

'I just knew really, I knew there was a problem, and the colleague came back in and just said "We think there is something wrong with the baby".

Natalie O'Rourke, from Teddington, has revealed she had to fight to keep her son, now ten, who was diagnosed with Down's syndrome before he was born after hospital staff assumed she wouldn't want her pregnancy to go ahead

Natalie O'Rourke, from Teddington, has revealed she had to fight to keep her son, now ten, who was diagnosed with Down's syndrome before he was born after hospital staff assumed she wouldn't want her pregnancy to go ahead 

Natalie explained that she was told to go straight to Queen's Charlotte hospital in central London, but says she wasn't told why.

She said: 'It was very frightening and it was like we were put on a pathway without a choice really, I mean this happened 10 years ago so we really hope it's different for people now.

'They called me to tell me the baby had Down's syndrome and I really wasn't surprised at that point, and then the phone rang again, it was an unknown number and they said ''We are just confirming your appointment for tomorrow'' and I said ''I don't have an appointment for tomorrow, I think you have the wrong person'', and I realised they had booked me in for a termination the following day.'

She continued: 'And I said I won't be coming, you can cancel that appointment but she said ''No, we will keep the appointment just in case you change your mind".'

O'Rourke said had she not already have had a baby, she might have felt like she should have attended the appointment, saying: 'My worry is I am really strong-minded and I already have Alice [her older daughter] so I am quite confident.

'If I had been a first time mum I might of thought that I would have to go along with that and might not have realised that there was a choice.

'I really hope that a decade later things are changing but I want to get a strong message out there that don't be afraid of Down's syndrome there is so much love and kindness out there.

Brentford fan Woody joined Natalie on the This Morning couch to explain how important football is for him

Brentford fan Woody joined Natalie on the This Morning couch to explain how important football is for him

NEXT Health service initiative offers patients a chance to see a GP on the same day ... trends now