Most of us will remember spending those long anticipatory months of pregnancy not only daydreaming about who the little person we’re growing will become, but also setting our expectations around how we will begin to bond with our tiny being – from that first skin on skin contact, to how we’ll initially establish feeding – as we create our birth plans.
As most mothers will understand, a baby’s entrance into the world doesn’t often go to plan, but every birth is still a marvel and – in those first days and weeks of the ‘newborn bubble’ – real life fades away. We’re full of wonder, and most of us remember it taking a while to work out what day it is, and which way is up again… It’s a beautiful but also incredibly tough time.
For new parents of a sick or premature newborn, this time can be even more disorienting, as the experience of their baby coming into the world may be even further from what they expected or planned. Separation from their baby, while their newborn receives the vital care it needs, can be heart-breaking. In many cases, a mother will leave the hospital initially without their new bundle in their arms, which is a significant readjustment of expectations when they’d dreamed that they would be settling into their new life together as a family.
For parents with a premature or unwell newborn, an already overwhelming experience can also be traumatic. The NMH Foundation raises much needed funds for a range of life-saving equipment, advanced training and education programmes for the NICU as well as supports for parents and families. WaterWipes is proud to partner the NMH Foundation for November Prematurity Awareness Month and to providing year round funding for practical supports for parents such as Leap Cards for travel, Breast Pumps for NICU mothers, a family room with pull-out beds and privacy screens.
WaterWipes are also very proud to be the only wipes permitted to be used on premature babies in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the National Maternity Hospital.
Prematurity Awareness Month is a special month where we can all do something to help make life a little easier for parents and families of premature babies. Your support counts, so help us help our premature Babies. Click here to find out how you can get involved and help Holles Street during the month of November.
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