A MOTHER is hoping to raise awareness of the reality of caring for a child with Down’s Syndrome by sharing her story.

Stacey Mann also hopes to dispel some of the myths surrounding the condition.

Many parents fear a new test, expected to be introduced on the NHS, will lead to a rise in abortions.

The test, known as NIPT, tells pregnant women with 99 per cent accuracy whether their baby is likely to have Down’s.

At the moment, 90 per cent of British women terminate their pregnancies after recei ving a positive result for Down’s Syndrome.

Stacey, 24, first discovered her son Bobby, now aged two, may have the condition from blood tests taken on the day of her 12 week pregnancy scan.

She said: “I remember the phone call like it was yesterday.

“I cried after I was given a one in 51 chance and I was worried about how I was going to tell my partner, Graham.

“He took the news so well and straight away we knew that there was no further testing we wanted.

“On my 20 week scan, we were told that we were having a boy.

“We then received a letter to say that the chance of Bobby having Down’s was three in ten.

“To us, this pretty much confirmed it.

“By then we had done so much research and we understood a lot more. I was having lots of extra scans to keep a check on our baby.

“At 36 weeks and two days, in the middle of the night, my water broke.

“It took four days for Bobby to finally arrive.

“I was pre-warned that when Bobby was about to arrive a lot of health professionals would enter the room.

"They weren’t wrong - I think about eight people came in.

“They were there to check Bobby over. Sadly there was no golden hour for us.

“We got two minutes of cuddles and pictures and then our baby was taken to be checked over.

“What seemed like hours later, we were able to go and see our little Bobby. ”

Bobby was only 5lb and 13oz at birth and was put under a UV light due to jaundice.

He was taken almost immediately to hospital in Norwich, where he had an operation before he was even a day old.

It was while Bobby was there that Stacey and Graham were informed he did have Down’s Syndrome .

Stacey said: “I had been so strong through the whole of the pregnancy and labour, yet I went to Bobby’s incubator, held his hand and cried.

“I think it was hearing it that made it so real.

"We then had to tell every one that Bobby had Down’s Syndrome.

“We were annoyed that everyone kept saying ‘sorry to hear that’ because we really weren’t sorry.

"Bobby is Bobby and he is our pride and joy.”

Two years on and Stacey says caring for Bobby has been a lot easier than she ever expected.

While the couple have to book a lot of appointments for him, including physiotherapy, speech and language therapy, he is “chilled out, laid back and not much phases him”.

Stacey, of Grange Road, Dovercourt, added: “At first, appointments are crazy and a diary is definitely needed, but they’ve eased off now he’s older.

“Bobby doesn’t have any any other health problems and his heart has been checked and is fine.

“If I could give any advice to new parents of children with Down’s Syndrome it would be to not stress.

“Yes it can be scary at first, but you soon learn that it is nothing to be scared about.

"It’s literally just an extra chromosome.

“Bobby may take a little longer to do things, but he does them in his own time.”