A pregnant woman’s unborn child was saved by her loyal puppy when it alerted her that she was suffering a miscarriage in the middle of the night.
Jade Ambrose was 33 weeks pregnant and asleep when she was awoken by hero hound Lola who started barking.
It was only then that she realised she was losing blood and that her waters had broken.
Jade, from Leeds, West Yorkshire, was rushed to hospital where doctors were able to stop her miscarrying her first child.
Eight weeks later, in August last year, she gave birth by caesarian section to a beautiful little boy called Oliver who is now a healthy toddler aged 14 months.
Delighted Jade believes that her close bond with the Staffordshire Bull Terrier cross – whom she has had since it was just six weeks old – is the reason for her good fortune.
Usually puppies go to their new owners at eight weeks but Lola’s mum was starting to turn on the pups so they had to be homed quickly with Jade and her partner, warehouse operative Paul Stacey, in April this year.
Because of that, Lola became very close to Jade and nurtured her with lots of snuggles and puppy milk.
The pair were so in tune that by the time Lola was four-months-old and Jade was pregnant, Lola detected something was wrong while she was sleeping on Jade and Paul’s bed and barked to wake them.
Jade noticed something was wrong and was rushed to hospital.
Jade said: “Doctors told me that if I had not gone to hospital when I did I would have had to go ahead with the delivery that night, and who knows what would have happened.
“There might have been all sorts of complications, and certainly with Oliver beginning his life in an incubator.
“If Lola had not have woken me I don’t know what would have happened because I hadn’t been in any pain at all.
“I’d have just slept through and it could have been devastating.
“At first we didn’t realise what was going on when Lola woke us and thought she must have been barking at something outside, but then we realised she was barking at me – it was only when I got up to go to the loo that I realised I was losing blood.
“I don’t know whether Lola detected a problem with the heartbeat or it was just doggy intuition – but whatever it was, we will be eternally grateful to her.”
Nursery nurse Jade got Lola when she was 20 weeks pregnant.
She remembers it was just after she found out she was expecting a baby boy.
She said: “Because little Lola was really too young to have left her mum it meant that we struck up a really close bond.
“And she also got very close to my bump. It was so funny to see, it was as she knew there was another heartbeat – somebody else in there. It might be that she could hear it.
“She would love to watch the baby inside kicking and would want to lick my tummy when she saw it move.
“She would lay across my tummy to snuggle with me and the baby. It was so lovely to see.”
Jade had grown up with dogs and always knew she wanted a pup when she got a home of her own.
She and Paul did their homework and decided Staffies were a lovely friendly breed that were great with children.
Jade said: “We did umm and aah over whether this was the right time to get a dog but we decided that if we got a dog now then the dog and our son could both grow up together.”
When Jade was rushed to St James’s University Hospital in July doctors were amazingly able to stop the miscarriage and keep Oliver in his mummy’s tummy for another eight weeks.
In fact he ended up coming five days later than his expected due date, when doctors decided they ought to perform a c-section on August 23, after he showed no sign of making an appearance naturally.
So far Lola appears to adore Oliver and is even aware that he was inside Jade’s tummy.
Jade said: “I can see a future where they will have lots of fun-packed days together, with them playing together in the garden.
“We will let Oliver know what Lola did for him, because Lola is amazing.”
Lola and Jade have been awarded an exclusive £50 voucher from their local Pet Hut pet shop, owned by Poundstretcher, in Leeds after entering a competition to find a pet hero on Facebook.
Jade said: “I am so delighted that Lola has won, she thoroughly deserves it. We will treat her to something special with her winnings.”
