Thanks to charitable donations, Southmead Hospital Charity funded the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) parents’ accommodation allowing parents to stay close to the hospital and remain at their baby’s side – for however long they need it.
The accommodation, situated just outside of the Southmead Hospital grounds, provides invaluable peace of mind to parents, knowing they can stay close to their babies and be with them every step of the way. This facility is entirely funded by Southmead Hospital Charity and, without donations from supporters like you, it simply would not exist.
Adam and Helen, mum and dad to Teddy, explain how donor support made a difference to their family.
“Our beautiful boy, Teddy, was born three months early at Gloucester Royal Hospital. He was taken by neonatal ambulance to Southmead at about 10pm. There were lots of tubes and wires and the smallest nappy we’d ever seen. We watched him breathe and try and open his tiny eyes. And it hit us. We’re going to have to drive for over an hour each way, every day, to see our son.
Driving to Bristol every day when there is a very real possibility that your baby might not make it through the night would have been horrendous.
When the NICU staff told us they had a space for us in the charity’s flat for parents just down the road, a huge weight was lifted. We could stay locally and see Teddy 24 hours a day if we wanted. We had a space where we could put our things, shower, sleep and try to relax.
Not only did it give us a place to call our own; we made friends there. We hadn’t had our National Childbirth Trust (NCT) classes so we didn’t know other parents with babies Teddy’s age other than from NICU. Together, the other parents and all the staff kept us and Teddy going strong. It was our own special NICU flat support group who understood the journey we were going through.
We now look back on Southmead as our fondest time of Teddy’s very early development. The NICU team helped us learn, they listened and explained, and we felt at home in the ward and in the flat provided by Southmead Hospital Charity.
Teddy had his three-year review with his consultant last week. All the results were great, and we’re so proud of him.
He is now in pre-school at nursery and is excited to go every day. He’s also getting faster on his feet week on week and it’s hard to keep up with him for long!
To everyone who donated and helped fund this accommodation, thank you. Your support will help hundreds of families like ours in the coming year. It’s generous people like you who allowed us to be close to Teddy when we didn’t know what would happen, and we’ll be forever grateful.”
Charitable donations mean new parents like Adam and Helen who live outside of Bristol can stay close to their baby, helping to relieve the stress, worry and expense of finding local accommodation and allowing them to focus on the needs of their family.
Thanks to our donor community, mums and dads also have the opportunity to meet other parents and carers in similar circumstances, share experiences and gain much-needed emotional support.
