Newborns In Need
Each year we care for thousands of babies some of whom are born up to four months early and weigh as little as one pound.
An average of one in ten newborn babies need the support of the neonatal units across Good Hope and Heartlands. The unit also takes babies from across the whole region. The Neonatal Unit provides 24-hour care using dedicated breathing machines, incubators and state-of-the-art monitoring machines.
The hospital charity aims to support the unit in providing the most advanced medical equipment, over and above NHS Funding. We also aim to provide as much comfort for babies and their parents as we can to ensure that their stay on the ward is as comfortable as possible.
Did you know?
- Each year Good Hope Hospital and Heartlands Hospital deliver an average of 11,000 babies.
- Over 1,000 of these babies are cared for in the special Neonatal Unit at Good Hope Hospital and Heartlands Hospital every year.
- It costs £1,000 per day to run a cot for a premature baby in intensive care. Some babies require only a few days of care, whilst others may require a stay of several months.
- Premature babies born before 37 weeks are vulnerable to a range of problems, including breathing difficulties as their lungs are not yet fully formed.
- Because of their small size, premature babies do not normally have enough body fat to regulate their own temperature and need to be cared for in an incubator to keep them warm.
- Very premature babies (those born before 32 weeks) may be too young to feed and have to be fed via a tube directly to their stomach.
Neonatal Family Support Workers
Help us support our youngest patients and their families.
We need your help to fund essential support for families with babies being cared for by the incredible staff at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Heartlands Hospital and the Special Care Baby Unit at Good Hope Hospital.
These units care for over 1,000 babies a year, with as many as 70% of their little patients born premature. These babies can need a huge range of support and medical care, including help breathing, regulating their body temperature, and feeding. For their parents and families this is an incredibly scary time.
To help parents navigate this, we are fundraising to support two Neonatal Family Support Workers who will give extra support to parents across both units. These roles help parents and families to bond with their baby and offer emotional and practical advice when they need it most. With their help, parents can better understand the medical care their baby is receiving, enabling them to feel more confident with their own abilities when they return home.
Funding these roles is a vital step in bridging the gap between medical care and families and has been shown at other hospitals to help reduce stress and lower the number of babies readmitted after discharge.
Please donate today to help us support our littlest patients. Thank you.
Concord Birth Trolley
When a premature baby is born, they often need help breathing immediately after birth and so the umbilical cord is clamped straight away so staff can help the baby. In doing so a baby is born with a third of their blood still outside their body (in the cord and the Placenta).
This is why Heartlands Hospital Charity is raising funds for a Concord Birth Trolley. This amazing piece of equipment keeps mum and baby attached allowing delayed cord clamping, which provides huge benefits to all babies, especially those born premature and helps save lives. This incredible piece of equipment can reduce the death rate in babies born under 28 weeks by a third!
Delaying clamping of the umbilical cord for at least 60 seconds increases blood cells in the body by 60% which will provide babies with enough iron to get them through their first year, as well as antibodies, stem cells and white blood cells to help fight infection.
Please help us support our tiniest patients with this life-saving piece of equipment by donating today.