Our Neonatal fund is used to pay for high-tech specialist equipment, which is over and above what the NHS provides, to help care for our tiniest patients.
Many years ago MCH Charity was proud to fund the creation of the new Neonatal Unit at Leighton Hospital through the hugely successful 'One in Eleven' Appeal.
Since then the charity has continued to support the unit to further enhance the care and experience for very poorly babies and their parents.
Your donations make a huge difference to what we're able to do to support the amazing team here at Leighton. No matter how large or small we appreciate your donation, thank you.
CMAC Video laryngoscope
If a baby has a difficult airway, they are likely to require intubation. There is a process for intubation, and equipment such as Oropharangeal airways, iGels, medication to sedate the baby for intubation, can all help to manage a difficult airway.
A video laryngoscope is a piece of equipment that enhances patient care, by potentially facilitating successful endotracheal intubation and decreases the adverse consequences of a delay in airway stabilisation.
By having a display screen connected to the video laryngoscope, not only can the Doctor performing the intubation see clearly, but this could also be used for educational purposes by observing the intubation on the display screen. The equipment can also be used with a manikin to teach intubation and so helps with staff training too.
Thanks to our supporters this £13,000 piece of kit is now on the unit and in use!
Memory boxes and baby diaries
We fund memory boxes and baby diaries for babies who are going into foster care or on to adoption from the neonatal unit. We can now ensure that each baby in the care of social services, without parental involvement has their very own special items from birth, including: a lovely blanket, first soft toy, bottle, bag and items of clothing, plus a keepsake box. Donations to the NICU Fund enable us to provide a baby diary for every baby going into foster care, documenting their early days, with photos and foot/hand prints for them to look back on.
It can not be overstated how invaluable these items will become to any looked after child as part of their life story work, ensuring they know their entire story from birth and that someone cared to provide them with their own things to keep.
'Bili Blanket'
When a newborn baby has jaundice, they need phototherapy. It's also essential to have skin-to-skin contact with their parents.
Without a 'Bili Blanket' baby needs to lay in their cot under a fixed phototherapy light, only removed briefly to be fed.
Before the unit had the blankets parents weren't able to hold and feed their baby as often which could cause them distress. Our funding demonstrates the type of big impact we can have on improving families experiences in the first days of their baby's life.
Future Plans
VCreate
Help us to continue keeping families connected with video and photo updates straight to families from the unit. The charity funds the licence for this important service which allows the nursing team to easily and quickly share meaningful updates to help provide reassurance and to help reduce separation anxiety when families can't be at their baby's bedside.
Annual Licence: £4,300
Memory boxes
We provide funding for bespoke memory boxes specifically for babies who will be moving into foster care and onto adoption. The boxes make a real and meaningful difference for the babies, helping to provide them with an insight into their early days, for example, when they had their first feed, whether they needed phototherapy and how many days they spent on the unit. The boxes eventually become a treasured possession of the child which holds photos and notes written by the Neonatal team that cared for them when they were born.
Memory box: £90 each
If you would like to fundraise for the unit please contact us first and we'll give you all the information & resources you need.
Call us: 01270 273248
Email: charity@mcht.nhs.uk
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Donate to the NICU Fund
We rely on our supporters to fundraise for the NICU fund. If you would like to do something amazing for poorly babies cared for at Leighton Hospital contact us today. We will provide resources and support to make your fundraising the best it can be.
Email: charity@mcht.nhs.uk
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