A MOTHER is today celebrating the first birthday of her daughter who spent her first few weeks of life in Dorset County Hospital’s special care baby unit (SCBU).

Anthea Dugdale, 34, from Dorchester, said she would like to thank everyone at SCBU for everything they had done for her and her daughter.

The proud mum gave birth to Tamzin eight weeks prematurely at 2lb and 4oz in August last year and she was not able to bring her new arrival home for over a month.

Miss Dugdale was one of the mothers who joined in with an online campaign to save SCBU when it was feared that the unit and the maternity ward could have been under threat because of cost-saving measures that were announced last year.

She held a birthday party for Tamzin on Sunday, which was attended by friends and family at Dorchester Football Club.

The full-time mum said: “I’d like to say thank you to SCBU because my daughter, Tamzin, is celebrating her first birthday and it’s all thanks to them. There could have been real problems with the birth if I couldn’t get her to the SCBU.

“I couldn’t bring Tamzin home until the end of September but during that time I would go to the unit every day and I was confident she was in safe hands.”

Miss Dugdale added that she couldn’t believe her daughter was celebrating her first birthday already.

She said: “The first year has gone really quickly and I can’t believe she is a year old today.

“We had a birthday party on Sunday with birthday cake, refreshments, music and lots of presents for her to open. Tamzin is a very happy, vocal little girl.”

The mum-of-one also said that she was pleased to find out that the SCBU and the maternity unit were no longer at risk.

She said: “It was a real relief when I heard the news that it was staying open.

“At the time when it was announced that it could have been at risk, Tamzin was only a couple of months old so it was something I felt very strongly about.

“I want to really thank everyone at the unit – they all did a great job.”