Gladys hardly slept a wink because Elijah would wake in the middle of the night and cry while she would stay all night carrying him around the ward until he fell asleep, he would wake again and she'd sing a lullaby or hum a gentle song until he sleep again, while she sat beside him stroking his hair.

As the morning light filtered into the room, Elijah cooed and smiled in his cot, seemingly oblivious to the restless night he had given his mother. Gladys, who had been sitting by his side throughout the night, finally succumbed to exhaustion and fell asleep, her head resting on the edge of the...