If you are a regular blog reader, you will know that I am blessed with two perfectly (cheeky) daughters who, although were both 10 days early, were born safely and without incident. But what would I have done if that hadnt been the case? During pregnancy, most women just assume that their baby will arrive safely and healthily but for those parents that do have premature or sick babies, what then?

As a parent, I know that I would have wanted all the information available to me so I am therefore pleased to be able to share details of the new national initiative that supports families with a premature or sick baby. The initiative launches on the 19^th June 2012 and is designed to enable every family of a sick or premature baby to be at the cornerstone of their baby’s care in ways that can help to improve health outcomes.  

Here are some details from the press release for you:                                                                                                       

UK-based child health charity Best Beginnings, working with six medical Royal College, UNICEF and more than 15 other organisations, is rolling out a national Small Wonders Change Programme implemented by over 400 nurse, doctor and midwife ‘Champions’ within hospitals throughout the UK to help families of premature and sick babies in the UK irrespective of their socio-economic group, receive the same high quality family-centered care.

At the centre of the programme is the Small Wonders DVD, which is the culmination of two years of intensive work for Best Beginnings and follows fourteen families, charting the real-life experiences the parents faced as they met, cared for, and returned home with their premature or sick baby.  With 80,000 babies in the UK each year born either premature or sick it is designed as a tool to enable neonatal staff to support and advise parents through their baby’s stay, and encourage parents to play a pivotal role in the care their baby receives in ways that have been proven to positively impact health outcomes, interventions and activities such expressing breast milk, responding to their baby’s non-verbal cues and having skin-to-skin contact.

Using the expertise of over 200 experts in neonatal care including consultant neonatologists, representatives of Royal Colleges, specialist dieticians and infant feeding specialists and created in conjunction with 10 hospitals across the UK, the Small Wonders DVD is designed to ensure that parents have the insight, guidance, confidence and support they need, from when they are first told they may be having a premature baby, through those first crucial hours after birth to their baby’s first birthday.  The DVD is split into 12 films each covering a different topic, which parents can select individually.

In addition to being available for free in neonatal units across the UK the Small Wonders DVD is available to purchase for £5 from www.bestbeginnings.org.uk/pages/shop/.

Having been fortunate enough to breastfeed both of my daughters, I know the bond it can give you and this kind of support is invaluable, especially to mums feeling vulnerable after the birth of this gorgeous small person into the world. Best Beginnings is a small charity committed to having a big impact on child health across the UK.  You can find out more about their work and support them at http://www.bestbeginnings.org.uk/appeal/donate-for-child-health 

If you know one person that this may help or be of interested to - please share it with them. This small action can mean a big deal to someone who is feeling isolated or struggling and with most of us never having enough hands to hold a book, a DVD is a great way to share this information.

Wouldnt you want the Best Beginning?  

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