Many tiny premature babies have been able to experience some Christmas joy thanks to the staff at the neonatal unit at Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust.
A fun Christmas party was organised by the Trust’s Neonatal Community Outreach Team and took place on Wednesday 10 December. The event, which aimed to bring together families with shared experiences of caring for premature children in the hospital, was replete with refreshments, gifts, and raffle prizes, made possible by donations from supporters and the Trust’s Well Wishers charity.
The Neonatal Outreach Lead and Discharge Planning Coordinator, Kiran Chatha, said “It’s a safe space for families to ask questions and to get their babies weighed. It also connects people so they can access, or provide, peer support, which is especially important when families first join us and are often anxious about the journey ahead”.
Nicola Heath, a Neonatal Outreach Sister, added “We have families where the newborns are premature, but so were their siblings. We remember the older children, and as staff it makes us emotional seeing them! Some families with premature babies can’t even picture their little one in a school uniform, but events like this give them a boost to think that’s where their child will soon be”.
One of the attendees of the Christmas party was one-year-old baby Thomas, who was born prematurely at only 32 weeks gestation and subsequently spent 12 weeks in the hospital’s neonatal unit.
Thomas’ mother, Becky, said “The group is brilliant – I get all the advice I need for any issues or concerns, and now he’s thriving. It’s lovely to see the other children at the group doing well”.
Baby Mya, who was born prematurely at only 34 weeks, the day following her mother, Jenna’s, baby shower, was also present. “The Neonatal staff have been amazing – I can’t fault them. It feels like a family”, Jenna said. Mya’s father, Marvin, said “Our eldest, Freya, was small but not premature, so even though we were already parents, this felt like a completely new experience. We’ve already had lots of great support and advice”.
Another attendee was baby Neo, who spent seven weeks in the neonatal intensive care unit after being born prematurely in September and suffering from jaundice and an infection. Now, along with his big sister, Kya, he got to meet Father Christmas. “The staff on the Neonatal Unit were incredible. Any time I needed any support, they were there”, their mother, Jade, said.
Spokesperson for Right To Life UK, Catherine Robinson, said “It is wonderful to hear that these little babies who were born so prematurely are able to celebrate Christmas with their families as a group”.
“This Christmas party shows that with the right care and support, extending to after birth, premature babies can thrive and go on to have full, happy lives”.
