Episode 1

At University Hospital Wishaw, a team of highly specialist staff provide round-the-clock care to some of Scotland’s most fragile babies. This series follows the stories of babies born prematurely at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in Scotland. Some of these newborns are at the edge of life, and we see the emotional journey their parents go on just to take them home.

Alfie is born at 27 weeks after showing signs of distress in the womb. His lungs are not yet ready to breathe on their own, and a ventilator is keeping him alive. Alfie’s parents didn’t expect him to arrive for another three months and face a long and uncertain journey as they adapt to life with a baby in neonatal intensive care. The neonatal unit’s senior midwife is faced with added pressures as the pandemic impacts staffing in the unit and a premature baby is isolated due to Covid.