#neonatal-care

#neonatal-care

That's where life starts and it's also where some of the most fragile life starts, so it's really an honor to be here to celebrate this opportunity together.

Three-week-old Theo is fast asleep in a cot, unaware he is helping to trial new technology that could change the lives of others. Dr Flora Faure is gently fitting him with a small black cap that looks like a swimming cap, or something a rugby forward might wear. It is covered with hexagonal lumps, containing technology that monitors how his brain is working.

When Laura Ehrlich gave birth to her first child in 2020, the COVID-causing virus wasn't the only threat facing her son. Born a micro preemie at under 26 weeks, little Alistair was also at very high risk for severe disease from other germs, including respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Ehrlich says she was terrified because it was a guaranteed hospital stay for him, and after he had already spent his first 134 days of life in a neonatal intensive care unit (ICU), I didn't want that for him anymore.

Tuff Born was born at 22 weeks and one day, and despite the odds against him, he survived after 136 days in the NICU.

"He's expected to be OK. He's just fighting. We just want prayers for him. Just keep praying for him."

"He's expected to be okay. He's just fighting. We just want prayers for him." - April Newkirk on baby Chance.

"It's torture for me. I see my daughter breathing by the ventilator, but she's not there."