Premature twins reunited with ambulance team near Bedford which helped save their lives against the odds

A young mum has had an emotional reunion with the ambulance team who saved the lives of her twin boys after they were born prematurely at just 28 weeks gestation.

Molly Digby, 24, and her partner James, visited the ambulance station in Ampthill with twins, Archie and Jacob, to say thank you – seven months after their lives hung in the balance.

She said: “It was extremely emotional for all of us to meet the team who rushed to my flat that day and helped save Archie and Jacob.

“This was the first time we had seen the crews from the ambulance service and Magpas Air Ambulance since it happened – so emotions were running high.”

Molly was 28-weeks pregnant when her waters broke at her home in January. But before she could dial 999, she had given birth to her first child, Jacob, in the bathroom.

Shortly afterwards, Molly’s second child, Archie, arrived still in the sac attached to the placenta. East of England Ambulance Service (EEAST) talked her through what she needed to do to tear open the sac and start CPR on her baby.

Several EEAST crews and the Magpas Air Ambulance team urgently made their way to the scene as Molly heard Archie take his first breath.

The EEAST crews worked quickly in teams to care for the twins and Molly, who was being treated for pneumonia.

At this point, Archie’s heart rate began to increase from an extremely slow rate. However, his prognosis was still uncertain as he was so small, weighing just 570g.

Jacob was stronger, weighing 1.205kg, but he was still at risk and needed to be in the specialist Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Luton and Dunstable University Hospital as soon as possible.

Despite turning blue, Jacob was supported throughout the journey – and both babies made it to the hospital.

The twins spent nine and 16 weeks respectively in NICU and the Special Baby Care Unit, and the ambulance team has been keen to meet them again.

Steven Langridge, advanced paramedic in urgent care, said: “It was amazing to see Molly, Jacob and Archie who have done so well.

“I have been to many jobs with fantastic outcomes and many with sad outcomes, but this job is 100% the most memorable of my 15 years working for the ambulance service because of the circumstances and the outcome.

“I must admit I feared the worst for Archie, because he was so poorly, and it is fantastic to see that he and Jacob have done so well and Molly, too.”

Call handler Nick Hall said: “Immediately after I came off the call, I was taken aback by how well Molly did on the phone in such exceptional circumstances.

“She was extremely brave and it was remarkable how she managed to keep a cool head with all the turmoil going on in front of her and follow my instructions.”

Molly added: “I will be forever grateful for what they did. Every day I look at Archie and Jacob it makes me feel thankful to everyone in the NHS who played a part in saving their lives.”