‘Miracle’ five years since Birmingham twins’ Covid coma birth

A doctor whose twins were delivered prematurely while she was in a coma says the five years since have been like a series of “miracles unfolding”.

Dr Perpetual Uke, a rheumatology consultant at Birmingham City Hospital, was placed into an induced coma after catching Covid-19 before her twins were delivered by Caesarean section at 26 weeks on 10 April 2020.

She came around 16 days later, convinced her twins were dead, before hospital staff told her they were alive.

The twins turned five in April and both have learned to walk and talk, which Dr Uke said was something she “cherished”.

“I just hope for the best because everything about it has been miracles unfolding, just like how you turn the pages of your book,” she said.

Dr Uke said she had been at high-risk of becoming seriously ill with Covid but continued to work during the pandemic because she felt a duty of care to her patients.

After catching the disease, she was admitted to the hospital’s critical care unit, placed on a ventilator and put in an induced coma to help her recover.

When they were born, her daughter weighed just 770g (27oz) and her son weighed 850g (30oz).

Dr Uke’s husband Matthew said he had felt conflicting emotions when his children were born.

“If the twins are there – where is my wife? Because by then, it was not certain she was going to come out of her coma,” he said.

“Am I going to have to care for the twins alone? It was a very difficult moment.”

Dr Uke recalled the “surreal” experience of waking and how she had found it difficult to believe her children were alive, until she saw them for the first time.

Despite what her husband described as the “grind” of the past five years, Dr Uke said her outlook had become more positive.

“We are very glad, happy and joyous because of what they’ve achieved and are going to achieve in the future,” she said.

Mr Uke described 2020 as like “being in a dark moment” and 2025 was “like being in the sunshine”.

“We are very happy and we’re very thankful to the NHS, to all the people who cared for them and that continue to care for them,” he said.

“They’re wonderful. Their dedication and passion are off the charts. All the people who work in the NHS – they are special.”

Dr Uke has since written a book about the family’s story called Covid Coma to Twin Birth: Threads of Miracles, which she hoped would help others going through difficult times.

“If you have ever, in any situation in your life, felt the weight of the unknown in a difficult moment, just hold on to hope,” she said.