A ‘miracle’ baby had BBC Breakfast presenters in hysterics this morning after repeatedly breaking the wind live while trying to have a chat with her parents who are cancer survivors.
Naga Munchetty and Charlie Stayt were trying to tell the moving story of James and Bethany Jefferson-Loveday, who had joined them on the famous red sofa with their newborn Heidi.
The happy and healthy girl was born despite her father having been diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma before she was conceived, when doctors warned her fertility could be affected by chemotherapy.
Meanwhile, her mother, Bethany, found out she had non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma at 21 weeks pregnant, but both parents are now in remission and require no further treatment.
Naga Munchetty and Charlie Stayt were trying to tell the moving story of James and Bethany Jefferson-Loveday, who had joined them on the famous red sofa with their newborn Heidi.
The happy and healthy girl was born despite her father having been diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma before she was conceived, when doctors warned her fertility could be affected by chemotherapy.
But just before Munchetty and Stayt told millions of viewers about the “very emotional” story, Heidi woke up from a nap and farted quite hard.
Munchetty chuckled: ‘Did he just blink? She just blinked! Does she usually wake up like this?
“I heard that,” Stayt added: “It’s a welcome to BBC Breakfast.” That’s what it was!
Continuing to laugh, Munchetty said: “I’m telling a very emotional story here, please Heidi, let me continue!”
But the tot didn’t end as he unleashed another win later in the segment.
The couch erupted into giggles once more as Stayt said, ‘That’s perfect, it’s going to be a score throughout this discussion!’
James and Bethany Jefferson-Loveday, from Evesham in Worcestershire, are celebrating the birth of a healthy baby girl despite having both received chemotherapy during their pregnancy.
Viewers took to social media to praise the segment, calling the moment “heartwarming.”
Munchetty added: “We’re talking about cancer and laughing too.”
Viewers took to social media to praise the segment, calling the moment “heartwarming.”
One wrote on Twitter: “So lovely to turn on the news and hear some good news from cancer survivors James and Bethany and see beautiful smiling miracle baby Heidi steal the show.” Such moving minutes.
Another declared: ‘A baby just farted on BBC Breakfast’, while one replied: ‘That’s what babies do!’
One said: ‘They’ve had so long. She is beautiful, I hope everything goes well for you now.’
James and Bethany, from Evesham in Worcestershire, were devastated after they were each diagnosed with lymphoma just months apart.
James, 33, was told he had Hodgkin lymphoma, a cancer that develops in vessels and glands throughout the body, in December last year.
The diagnosis led the couple to try for a baby before James’ treatment began, knowing that conceiving may be more difficult after chemotherapy.
The couple were ‘over the moon’ when Bethany, 30, found out she was pregnant the following month in January.
But their joy turned to despair when Bethany was diagnosed with high-grade non-Hodgkin lymphoma at 21 weeks pregnant.
Doctors said the chances of getting that type of cancer during pregnancy were “exceptionally rare” and Bethany underwent chemotherapy because without it she would not have survived.
She also received the heartbreaking news that her baby was unlikely to survive the entire pregnancy, all while her husband was also undergoing treatment.
Consultant hematologist Dr Salim Shafeek (pictured holding baby Heidi) said: “The combination of being pregnant and having high-grade non-Hodgkin lymphoma is exceptionally rare.”
However, against all odds, their daughter Heidi was delivered safely via caesarean section at Worcestershire Royal Hospital after Samantha finished her chemotherapy.
Both James and Bethany are now in remission, no longer requiring treatment, and are looking forward to their first Christmas together as a family.
Bethany said: ‘James and I both agree that Heidi’s birthday was the best day of our lives. It’s the happiest I’ve ever felt.
Bethany’s symptoms began in her first trimester, while her husband was still undergoing chemotherapy treatment for his lymphoma.
After weeks of minor symptom progression, Bethany contacted her GP, but at this stage her symptoms were believed to be pregnancy related.
Bethany said: ‘I started having severe pressure build up in my head and had the worst headaches I’ve ever experienced.
Bethany, 30, and James, 33, (pictured during chemotherapy) were diagnosed with lymphoma just months apart.
“I was out of breath, unable to do my usual activities, and a hard lump appeared on my clavicle.
“But despite all this, he denied that anything was wrong. I assumed that my symptoms were pregnancy related and that the lump must be a cyst.
‘Eventually, my mom talked me into going to A&E and then they referred me for an MRI, CT scan and biopsy.
‘I will never forget the moment I was diagnosed.
“I remember wondering how this was possible, since my husband was being treated for Hodgkin’s lymphoma at the time.”
Bethany then had what she calls “the most difficult conversation of my life” with a consultant obstetrician at the hospital about options for her pregnancy.
She added: ‘My obstetrician had to explain to me all the possible options for the pregnancy, including termination.
“I left the appointment feeling that 80 percent of my options were negative and that I had only the slimmest hope that the pregnancy would have a successful outcome.”
Since both husband and wife needed chemotherapy so close together, the couple said they shared a unique understanding of their treatment experience.
Bethany described, “I felt complete despair at the thought of having chemotherapy and losing my hair, but James was so supportive of me, he completely understood what I was going through.”
He shaved my head when my hair started to fall out, just like I had done earlier in the year.
‘The nurses were very friendly and we used to chat while they were giving me chemotherapy, which was distracting.