Just sharing this podcast episode from the Amos Madra Show which features me talking about Twenty-four Plus Six and why I wrote the book. Have a listen to find out my thoughts on how we can work together to improve neonatal care in the UK. Head to http://www.brettbooks.co.uk to buy your copy of Twenty-four PlusContinue reading “Compassion in care makes all the difference”
Tag Archives: NICU baby
Fighting the stigma of perinatal mental health
I wanted to share this great article from Bromley, Lewisham, Greenwich Mind, an organisation who’s there for anyone struggling with their mental health. Project Worker, Laura Corrigan, shares her views about how my new book, Twenty-four Plus Six, has great potential to improve experiences for parents and families. In particular, she feels it will beContinue reading “Fighting the stigma of perinatal mental health”
A memoir in the making
“She lay utterly motionless save for the ventilator’s rhythmic, almost robotic, inflation and deflation of her lungs. I wondered if she had any awareness of my presence at all. Or indeed any awareness of anything.” Excerpt from Chapter 21 of my upcoming memoir Today, 17th November, is World Prematurity Day, which is a global movementContinue reading “A memoir in the making”
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.
Fragility
There’s been so much focus on Covid-19 for so long that it’s easy to forget how a common cold can be just as tough for a preemie to deal with. What amounts to a snotty nose and a bit of a cough for most of us can be enough to land a preemie back in hospital on oxygen, antibiotics, nebulisers, steroids and worse.
Preemie reunion
Last Wednesday we attended a reunion of the preemie babies who were in hospital at the same time as our little girl. The last time these children were in the same room, they were all in incubators attached to sats machines. Now they are strapping 2 year olds, strutting their stuff and fighting over the Tiny Tots cars.
Childhood crises – what effect do they have on parenting?
How much do childhood crises like prematurity, illnesses and serious accidents influence the way we parent our children? It’s an interesting question and one that I’m thinking more and more about as my baby becomes a little girl.
National Bereaved Parents Day
Today is National Bereaved Parents Day, raising awareness of all parents who have lost a child of any age, and from any circumstance. This includes still births, miscarriages and infertility, as well as neonatal deaths and child deaths.
Miracle girl
It was my little girl’s birthday this week. She technically turned 2, though if she hadn’t been born 15 weeks early, she wouldn’t have been celebrating her second birthday until October. It seems odd that she will forevermore have a summer birthday when she could easily have had an autumn one.
Life of a Preemie Mum 