World Prematurity Day 2018

The Sick Children’s Trust is joining other leading children’s charities in the global movement to raise awareness of preterm birth and take action on behalf of the 15 million babies born early every year.

On World Prematurity Day, Saturday 17 November, families, health professionals, charities and organisations from all over the world direct the spotlight onto premature birth with media campaigns, local events and other activities to raise awareness amongst the public of issues related to babies being born too soon.

Organisations involved in World Prematurity Day provide support to anyone affected by premature birth, who experiences the struggle for survival and, all too often, the loss of a preterm baby. Together, with health professionals and services, they are committed to raising awareness of pregnancy and prematurity.

One of these organisations is The Sick Children’s Trust, a nationwide charity that supports families in free ‘Home from Home’ accommodation when they have a seriously ill child undergoing treatment in the country’s leading paediatric hospitals. A number of the families supported by the charity have critically ill premature babies that require specialist care miles away from home. By giving them free ‘Home from Home’ accommodation just minutes from their baby, the charity enables families to spend as much time as possible with their loved one as well as offering practical and emotional support and easing financial burdens.

William Hyams was born at 23 weeks and 5 days weighing just 623 grams. Born 16 weeks early he underwent specialist, lifesaving treatment at The Royal London Children’s Hospital for the first three months of his life. Throughout this time his parents Anita and Dan, and his sisters, Marion and Olivia, were given a room at Stevenson House, a ‘Home from Home’ run by the charity and located just moments from the neonatal intensive care unit where he was being treated. Studies have shown that enabling parents to be involved in their baby’s care, including facilitating skin-to-skin contact, breastfeeding and opportunities to form early bonds, improves health outcomes for premature babies. Mum, Anita, who is a critical care nurse at Southend University Hospital, says:

“William’s life at the start was very rocky. Fortunately, because of The Sick Children’s Trust we didn’t have to worry about where we were going to stay. At two weeks old William’s lungs were still severely underdeveloped and he wasn’t getting enough oxygen so his body began to close down and his kidneys began to fail. He pulled through, but it was touch and go. William was often too unstable to be cuddled and the doctors told us that skin-to-skin contact was best for him. During those days when I wasn’t able to hold William, I also couldn’t feed him. But thankfully, there was a breast pump available for me to use at Stevenson House, so even if I couldn’t hold him I was able to give William my milk and I could express privately in my bedroom and walk the milk over to him on the ward.”

Another parent, Becky Petch, who was recently supported in one of the charity’s ten ‘Homes from Home’ has spoken about how The Sick Children’s Trust helped her following the premature birth of her twin boys, Cain and Alfie. Tragically Alfie passed away just hours after birth, but while Cain underwent many months of lifesaving treatment in hospital, Becky was supported at Eckersley House, located within the grounds of Leeds Children’s Hospital. Becky, says:

“Hours after giving birth I was planning a funeral for one baby as his twin fought for his life in hospital. The Sick Children’s Trust kept me beside Cain throughout the darkest days of my life. I honestly cannot imagine having to leave him in hospital every evening and travel home. The key to my recovery and grieving process was knowing I was never more than a few moments from my surviving baby.

“The charity gave me a room when there was nowhere else to go in my time of need. They provided a shoulder to cry on and they supported and reassured me during the dark times when I began to lose faith. They did everything they could and so much more to help me. I will never be able to thank them enough.”

Charities like The Sick Children’s Trust are vital for families experiencing complex trauma. On average, two million children in the UK require hospital treatment each year. Every day, babies are born too early or too small, or are diagnosed with serious and life-threatening illnesses that leave them fighting for life. They often have to be transferred to specialist hospitals far from home to receive critical medical treatment. Joy Darling, Head of Operations at The Sick Children’s Trust, says:

“World Prematurity Day is a time for parents and families across the world to both celebrate and commemorate their premature babies’ lives and an opportunity to break the silence around safe pregnancy and preterm births in the UK. It is also an awareness campaign to ensure all parents in the UK get the best possible care, wherever they live, when they need it most.

“With one in ten babies being born premature we support many families in our ‘Homes from Home’ with preterm babies. Often these babies spend many months in hospital, with many not going home until way past their due date. We are working towards a future whereby every parent with a premature baby never has to be more than a few moments from their hospital bedside, so they can forge vital early bonds and create memories during this traumatic time.”

For further information about World Prematurity Day, please visit https://www.bliss.org.uk/support-bliss/world-prematurity-day.