Why I'm fighting for preemies

Happy Fight for Preemies Day!

I thought it might be an appropriate day to explain why I'm fighting. This is Eoin.


Admittedly it was two years ago. He's more like this today:

If it wasn't for the skill and dedication of the doctors and nurses, he wouldn't have turned out anything like this. Born 3 months early, with only 18 minutes notice and 1 minute before he would certainly not have made it, Eoin was born a very poorly little boy. We had to wait 6 hours before we could even see him whilst the medical team stabilised him. And then began daily visits to the hospital, one step forward and two back, blood transfusions, meningitis, transfers between hospitals and brain scans. Slowly but surely, he gained weight, started wearing clothes, came out of an incubator, began breathing without oxygen, breast fed and yes, finally, after 3 months, he came home.

This was undoubtedly the most stressful period of time our family has experienced and whilst there are sections of it blocked out and lost to my memory forever (I remember little about that first day and have no recollection of Eoin on a ventilator) there are other experiences (as I wrote about here) that will be with us forever. We are determined to turn this experience into a positive one through both fundraising and raising awareness of the issues that effect Eoin and preemies like him. Issues such as

• Transfers - Eoin was transferred from what we considered to be our local hospital to one twice as far away and the opposite direction to my work
• Maternity leave - Maternity leave begins on the day that a baby is born. This means many mums of preemies return to work soon after (if not before) their baby actually comes home from hospital
• Starting school - Eoin was born in June but was due in September. There's a whole school year in the difference and the regulations concerning defering even for those preemies who need extra help are patchy and inconsistent
• Staffing levels - Bliss has launched a 1 to 1 campaign for intensive nursing. It's only what adults in intensive care already receive!
• Family centred care - Simple things like improved access to kangaroo care, being there when the baby transitions from an incubator to a cot or starts wearing clothes are all important to a family but often just part of the daily grind for over-worked staff
• Support for families - Counselling services are patchy and not always available

I want to reiterate that were it not for the staff and care Eoin received, he wouldn't be here. There is though lots to improve for the babies, their parents and the staff.

That's why I'm fighting for preemies.