They may have been born prematurely, or they may need special medical attention — but every one of them will get devoted, loving care.
As part of our Light Up Christmas appeal, we spent a day on the neonatal intensive care unit at Bradford Royal Infirmary meeting the tiny fighters, their courageous parents and the amazing staff performing lifesaving feats every day.
07.30 Tiny Cain Roberts is getting his first meal of the day, administered by his mum Lisa by way of a syringe and a feeding tube.
Five weeks ago, when he and his twin brother Kian were born ten weeks early, his tiny stomach could only manage 1ml of expressed breast milk every hour.
Now, meals are much more substantial at 30 to 40ml — that’s around six teaspoons — every three hours.
How to help
DONATE ONLINE: Go to https://www.bliss.org.uk/support-bliss/give-money/light-up-christmas
DONATE BY TEXT: Sending BLISS followed by the amount (e.g. BLISS £10) to 70085. You can choose to donate £1, £3, £5, £10, £15 or £20. You will be charged the standard network rate when texting your keyword.
DONATE BY PHONE: Call 020 7378 5740.
DONATE BY POST: Please make cheques payable to “Bliss – National Charity for the Newborn” to Freepost RTZJ-GZYE-RCUA, The Sun Appeal, Bliss, Fourth Floor, Maya House, 134-138 Borough High Street, London SE1 1LB.
“It has been a really scary time,” said Lisa, 37, from Bradford, her voice cracking with emotion.
“As a mum, you feel completely helpless. I got to cuddle them when they were five days old and it was the best feeling in the world.
“Seeing them grow and get better has been like a miracle happening right before my eyes.”
09.00 All the medical staff gather for a “safety huddle”. This is to dish out roles for the day so that if a new baby arrives, which happens 40 to 50 times a month, every member knows what role they are responsible for.
09.30 Time for the first of two ward rounds for the day. A team of ten, including consultant neonatologist Dr Chris Day, nurses and trainee doctors, assess each of the babies in the unit’s 31 beds.
Matron Kelly Young said: “They discuss what has happened overnight in the case of each baby and make any necessary changes to the care plan.”
11.00 Mum-of-two Lucy Dawson is sitting next to one of the seven high-dependency incubators, with her daughter, Olivia, nestled down her top.
The pair could not look more content, enjoying what’s known as “kangaroo care”, but it’s a rare moment of peace in the turbulent weeks since Olivia’s dramatic birth on October 10.
Lucy, 38, a Macmillan nurse from Heckmondwike, West Yorks, recalled: “At 27 weeks, when I started to go into labour, my husband and I were taken into a private room at my local hospital, Pinderfields, near Wakefield.
“With working in healthcare, I knew that it was the room they take parents to when there is something wrong or it is going to be bad news.
“Olivia was born by emergency Caesarean. On day two, she took a turn for the worse and she was transferred here. I thought I was going to lose my baby.”
Olivia, who has a five-year-old brother called Jack, weighed just under 2lb. Two days ago, she reached a milestone and came off oxygen. It means she could be back at Pinderfields hospital in time for Christmas.
Lucy said: “We will try to keep Christmas Eve and Christmas morning as normal as possible for Jack, then see Olivia in the afternoon, but it’s sad that she won’t be with us, at home, for her first Christmas.”
12.30 One mum heads to the kitchen to prepare some noodles for lunch. Another is changing her baby’s nappy through the incubator’s two side holes. It looks a little like a TV Bushtucker Trial, but the mum is clearly well-practised.
Teaching mums such techniques is one of the priorities of Bliss, the UK charity dedicated to babies born premature and poorly, which our Christmas appeal is supporting.
Research has found that helping parents to be confident enough to take the lead with their baby’s care helps the infant to thrive.
Bradford Royal Infirmary has recently become the first neonatal intensive care unit in the country to be given a World Health Organisation Baby Friendly Award for promoting such involvement.
13.15 It’s not just family members who visit. Physiotherapists and even speech and language experts tend to the babies. Senior charge nurse Jamie Steele said: “If a baby is having trouble swallowing, it can affect their speech, so it’s important to address this early on.”
14.30 A new arrival is expected. The baby was born prematurely this morning at a local hospital which does not have an intensive care neonatal unit.
He set out on the 20-mile journey with Yorkshire’s paediatric ambulance service, but had to return when his condition worsened.
Dr Chris Day said: “This baby is a few weeks early. He is not getting better, so we would rather bring the baby here so we can give additional care if needed. The first day of life is very challenging and that’s when a baby is most likely to suffer adaptational problems.”
15.00 Bliss “champion volunteer” Naz Rafiq, 48, is introducing herself to a dad.
Ten years ago Naz’s son Uzair was born with a terminal muscle condition and spent the three months of his tragically short life in neonatal in Leeds and Bradford.
The dental nurse from Bradford said: “It’s difficult when I see babies who are not going to make it.
“I sometimes have to put a stone on my heart and remind myself that if I can help another family, then my son’s legacy lives on.
“Sometimes it’s just about making a cup of tea for a parent and having a chat. Or they might want practical advice about how to get parking paid for or where to eat.
“I’ll encourage them to fill in their baby’s diary and get their hand and footprints done because they might not be thinking of those things when they’re worried about their baby.
“I know how important those memories are, whatever the outcome of their neonatal journey.”
15.30 Karen Williams, 39, the area senior healthcare engagement officer for Bliss, pops in to catch up with the team. The mum-of-one also has a surprise for Naz — a card to thank her for five years of volunteering.
16.30 A nurse is calling for an interpreter for a mum whose first language is not English.
Around 15 per cent of people in Bradford do not speak English as their first language.
17.00 Time for the second ward round and handover to the night staff.
A rare cry is heard from one of the cots, a barely audible bleat, like a tiny newborn lamb.
The babies sleep most of the time, because every action takes such a lot of energy from their tiny bodies.
The very smallest babies only tend to need one nappy change a day.
18.30 It’s bathtime — but for the most vulnerable tots this just involves a wipe-down in their incubators with cotton wool and sterile water. And the baby from the local hospital has finally arrived.
He has travelled in a specially adapted incubator, and is whisked straight into intensive care.
19.00 The lights are dimmed to indicate night time. Even though the babies’ incubators are covered with blankets to protect them from too much sensory stimulation, it’s important to establish the difference between day and night in this windowless world.
20.00 Kian is being weighed. He was 2lb 8oz at birth, and has now grown to a hefty 4lb 5oz. One of his hands is still only about the size of his mum’s thumb. Lisa, who also has two older daughters, said:
“We have been told we could be home for Christmas but I’m not getting my hopes up yet. With premature babies, it’s always one step forward and two steps back.”
21.30 Not all parents can be at the unit every day, but they can dial in for “Babyview”, which is a secure webcam call to their baby’s cot. It’s obvious from one dad’s face how precious these snatched moments are.
22.00 Lucy and her husband Richard, 37, say goodnight to Olivia with a tender stroke of her downy head through the incubator. They’ll be back again tomorrow for another day of parenting in the most extraordinary of circumstances.
Lucy said: “Sometimes Richard reads a bedtime story to her. She seems to know when we’re here as her heart rate tends to go down.”
02.00 There’s another new arrival, this time from the neighbouring labour ward.
She is wheeled through by a doctor and two nurses, one of whom is administering tiny puffs of air to the tot’s lungs.
Premature babies’ lungs are stiff so she is given medication to help them become more elastic, to enable her to breathe.
04.30 The fairy lights are twinkling but little else is stirring. One nurse is lovingly folding muslin cloths into tight “nests” which surround the baby to replicate the cosy feel of the womb.
Another one has a hand on the head of an unsettled baby and the other on the infant’s feet, in a “comfort hold.”
07.00 A new day, and one less sleep until Christmas. Matron Kelly Young said: “No matter what time of year it is, having a baby on neonatal can be very daunting.
“At Christmas, it is harder when normally they would be at home celebrating with their family. We try to make Christmas as lovely as possible for the families here.
“Anything The Sun can do to give families in neonatal some extra cheer would be much appreciated.”
How to help
DONATE ONLINE: Go to https://www.bliss.org.uk/support-bliss/give-money/light-up-christmas
DONATE BY TEXT: Sending BLISS followed by the amount (e.g. BLISS £10) to 70085. You can choose to donate £1, £3, £5, £10, £15 or £20. You will be charged the standard network rate when texting your keyword.
DONATE BY PHONE: Call 020 7378 5740.
DONATE BY POST: Please make cheques payable to “Bliss – National Charity for the Newborn” to Freepost RTZJ-GZYE-RCUA, The Sun Appeal, Bliss, Fourth Floor, Maya House, 134-138 Borough High Street, London SE1 1LB.
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