Marla Roberts from Penarth breathed unaided “against odds” after being born with a rare heart defect
When Jess Roberts and her husband Harry went for their 20-week pregnancy scan just before Christmas 2022, they expected to see a healthy baby and planned to share the gender reveal with family over the holidays. Instead, the couple from Penarth were told their unborn daughter had significant heart defects.
“I was wearing a Christmas jumper,” Jess recalls. “It somehow made the moment feel even more surreal and heartbreaking.”
With no history of heart conditions in either family, the diagnosis came as a complete shock. A week later, the foetal cardiology team at the University Hospital Wales confirmed that their unborn baby had tetralogy of fallot (CORR), a complex congenital heart defect affecting just 200 to 400 live births per million.
There was no family history of the condition, which affects how the heart works and how blood flows through it, and it seemed their unborn baby was affected at random, says Jess, who works as a teacher in Cardiff.
When Marla was born at 37 weeks in April 2023 at UHW things looked promising. But during a routine scan the next day Marla’s cardiologist wasn’t sure how she was breathing unaided.
The tiny newborn was moved from Cardiff to Bristol Children’s Hospital and placed in intensive care. A CT scan revealed no ducts in her heart — meaning she was breathing unaided against all odds.
“They called her a miracle baby,” Jess says. “She shouldn’t have been okay, but she was.”
At just 19 days old, Marla underwent her first open-heart surgery. Two days later, as doctors prepared to remove her ventilator, Marla suffered a pulmonary haemorrhage.
“We were told to leave the ward, where we had to wait 25 minutes not knowing if she’d survived. It was the most traumatic moment of our lives.”
Miraculously, Marla pulled through. After six weeks in hospital, she finally went home — but life was far from normal.
In November 2023, Marla became seriously ill with endocarditis, after an infection in the synthetic shunt in her heart. She was hospitalised for six weeks and underwent her second open-heart surgery at eight months old.
The surgery led to further complications. Marla couldn’t swallow and required a feeding tube for two months.
“That was one of the hardest parts,” Jess says. “Trying to feed her in public while she screamed and the milk wouldn’t go down. It was exhausting and isolating.”
In September 2025, Marla had her third open-heart surgery, her fourth procedure overall. “She came out of hospital on day four,” her mum says. “It was incredible after everything she’s been through.”
Jess said it is isolating being with people who don’t understand and she has leaned on the British Heart Foundation and family for support.
“Before Marla, I had no idea this world existed. I didn’t know about congenital heart defects or the surgeries that could save lives. The BHF has funded so much of the research that’s given Marla a chance.”
Today Jess is back at work as reception class teacher at Springwood Primary in Cardiff, Harry is back at work at HMRC and Marla is “full of energy” at nursery and playgroup and looking forward to Christmas.
The two-and-a-half-year-old will soon need to have more surgery to replace the replacement main pulmonary artery she had had to have from birth. As she grows she needs new ones to fit her, but Jess says the little girl has taken it in her stride.
“She’s the most active child which we are really pleased with because we were told she might be lethargic. You’d never know anything is wrong with her and she’s constantly on the go. She’s into everything and really curious.”
Marla loves her dolls house, Peppa Pig, Minnie Mouse and Disney and is excited for Christmas. “She’s cheeky, funny, and full of life. We were told she’d be lethargic, anxious, maybe delayed. But she’s the most energetic, confident little girl. She never stops. Even doctors are amazed.”
Jess says her little girl will need more surgery because she has a complex version of her condition. Marla had her main pulmonary artery replaced with a synthetic one when she was 19 days old, then a cow’s one when she was eight months, and now a human one.
The replacements don’t grow with her so have to be replaced as she grows. This last one should last for a longer period of time but she will need another.
Jess would like to have a sibling for Marla one day. As her condition was random and not inherited she hopes the risk would not be too great.
But the emotional toll of the last two years on Jess, her husband, and their wider family has been immense. “We grieved the start to family life we thought we’d have,” says Jess.
“Our first year was filled with anxiety, hospital stays, and constant monitoring. Both sets of grandparents have been with us through every surgery. It’s changed all of us.”
Jess and Harry are sharing their terrifying experience in support of the BHF Christmas campaign – A Gift That Keeps On Living.
Jess is urging people to donate to lifesaving research into cardiovascular disease, including conditions like tetralogy of fallot, as well as heart attack and stroke. You can donate by going to bhf.org.uk/christmas.
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