Premature twins stable after rescue

The brother and sister were flown from the Western Isles in an emergency rescue operation after their mother went into labour 12 weeks early.

Severe weather conditions made it too dangerous for an air ambulance to transfer the babies to Glasgow, so military aircraft were scrambled.

A Royal Navy Sea King helicopter carrying medical staff and incubators flew from Prestwick to Stornoway on Sunday night to help stabilise the twins, who were born at Western Isles Hospital.

A Hercules was then scrambled from a base at Lyneham, Wiltshire, shortly before 1am on Monday, carrying a crew of four, plus two RAF medics. They were later flown to Glasgow Airport and transported to the Princess Royal Maternity Hospital, where they were said to be in a stable condition, although they do need help breathing.

One of the doctors involved in the operation said the prognosis was good for the pair.

Dr Lesley Jackson, a neonatal consultant, said this was only the second time in five years that a Hercules had been used to transport ill babies.

She said: "The babies are currently stable in the neo-natal intensive care unit at Princess Royal Maternity. They arrived here just after 7am this morning after being flown by the Neonatal Transport Service with the west of Scotland from the maternity unit in Stornoway.

"We would imagine the babies will be in hospital until about their due date, so roughly 10 or 11 weeks. We would be very optimistic about the long-term outcome."

A spokeswoman for the Western Isles Health Board said the mother, who had been around 27 weeks pregnant, was in "good health" following a normal delivery.