Our eldest daughter was only 3-years-old when her sister arrived in the world 15 weeks early. It had the same effect as a meteor, crashing into the middle of her world and obliterating everything she knew to be normal. Overnight, she traded her carefree Frozen games for the tubes, wires, ventilators and incubators of neonatal intensive care.
Tag Archives: hospital stay
Medicalising motherhood
“I sighed deeply, exhausted and defeated by the realisation that feeding my child, the most primal and natural role that a mother can try to fulfil for her baby, would, of course, be yet another clinical event.” Excerpt from my upcoming memoir.
Neonatal Intensive Care Awareness Month
September is Neonatal Intensive Care Awareness Month #NICUAwarenessMonth when people from around the world come together to show their support for families with babies in the neonatal unit. The aim is to honour families experiencing a stay in neonatal care, and those in the medical profession who care for them. My daughter spent 3 monthsContinue reading “Neonatal Intensive Care Awareness Month”
What does prematurity mean to you?
Today, 17th November, is World Prematurity Day, raising awareness of the challenges of premature birth. I wanted to explore what prematurity means to different people so I posed the question, ‘What does prematurity mean to you?’, on social media. The answers I received emphasise the impact that a premature birth can have on a family. They give us a rare and poignant window into parents’ most traumatic memories of neonatal intensive care. They provide a snapshot of daily life in the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit). And they highlight the love, care and dedication of parents and other family members towards their babies.
Official discharge from neonatal care
Today is a day of celebration in our household, for after 2 long years our daughter has finally been discharged from neonatal care. Born at just 24 weeks, she spent 150 days in 4 different hospitals before coming home in November 2019. She battled metabolic bone disease, chronic lung disease, sepsis and meningitis.
Life of a Preemie Mum 