“As I was driving home from my last day of work before an early maternity leave, my waters broke. At 32 + 6 weeks, doctors tried everything to keep little Billy in, however he had other plans.

Bilal was born in the early morning by emergency c-section, he was both breach and transverse requiring an inverted T C-section. Bilal was not breathing at birth and required immediate NICU care. Billy spent 4 weeks in the NICU. It was a rollercoaster of ups and downs from being on CPAP, to constant jaundice and difficulty gaining weight at his lowest hitting around 1.3kg.

Going to the hospital multiple times a day was a full time job for my husband and I. We were determined to provide regular kangaroo care and learn as much as we could from the wonderful NICU staff at Liverpool Hospital. We wanted Bilal to develop positive neurological pathways by being as happy as possible during his admission.

Both my husband and I are paediatric occupational therapists which aided slightly with understanding the clinical jargon but did not aid with the sinking feeling of having your baby in the NICU. A day after Bilal was born, my husband and I were connected with Miracle Babies. My husband was familiar with the organisation from his work and we were quickly provided with great resources. The Nurture Guide and go bags were so useful. The conversations with our MBF support person were also great. For 4 weeks, we often saw new parents in the NICU and encouraged them to also get their hands on the Miracle Babies Nurture Guide and bag.

We connected with so many lovely NICU parents all on their own journeys, some much longer than ours. Today Bilal is finally home and after 9 weeks of NICU support, he is finally discharged. Although Billy still has many regular appointments to attend, this journey would not be as it is without the support we received by everyone along the way, including the amazing NICU nurses, doctors and staff.”