Shining a light on what £500k can do for neo-natal care

In the last 26 years, the Great Western Hospital in Swindon has received over £500k worth of specialist equipment from the charity, New Life Special Care Babies for its neo-natal department.

During a recent visit for a BBC South feature, CEO Trevor Goodall met with Consultant Dr. Hannah Langford-Wood for an update on how the latest equipment supplied had made a difference to the babies the unit cares for.

Dr. Hannah demonstrated a new light valued at £1000 which, when held to the baby’s skin, illuminates their tiny veins. “This means”, said Dr. Hannah, “that we can easily see their tiny veins when canulating. This makes it much easier for us to get the cannula in first time, giving less chance of bruising and causing distress. On the ward, we affectionately call this ‘Trevor’s special light’!”

The twin incubator is another recent addition to the department, funded by New Life, meaning that premature twins can lie close together rather than being separated in two separate incubators.

The visit brought home to Mr. Goodall, whose twins Joshua and Samuel were born at 24 weeks and survived only a few days, how much neo-natal care has progressed and how the equipment his charity funds is making such a difference to these tiny babies and their families. “It’s a massive legacy for my twin boys.” said Mr. Goodall, “They were here and gone within a week, it was so tragic. To think they have helped me to go on and help so many other babies is just fantastic.”

The next chapter for the charity is to bring a well-known figure on board as an Ambassador to take the fundraising to the next level so that hundreds more premature babies can be helped.

ENDS

For more information please contact:

Debbie Jacobs (press and media) on debbie.zestmarketing@gmail.com

Trevor Goodall (events and fundraising) on trevor@newlifebabies.org.uk

Notes to editors

Each year around 80,000 babies are born prematurely according to statistics published by Bliss. This means that over 2 million premature babies have been born in the UK since the charity began 26 years ago.

The charity was set up in 1995 after Trevor’s twin boys, Joshua and Samuel were born prematurely sadly dying shortly afterwards.

To donate to New Life or support in other ways, go to www.newlifebabies.org.uk/supporting-new-life-special-care-babies