Raising funds for a Centrifuge machine at Wycombe Hospital.

Looking at our gorgeous son Rafa Moore now, as a healthy bouncing baby of four months, it’s hard to believe that when he was born , our daily lives were shaped around trips to Stoke Mandeville Hospital – to get the treatment our baby boy needed. You see, Rafa was born with jaundice. In fact, 60% of babies are actually born with some form of jaundice, it is one of the most common issues for new-borns.

Jaundice requires regular monitoring and quick intervention, as high levels can affect the baby’s brain.

In High Wycombe, where we live with our other son, three-year-old Tomas, getting this treatment is not straightforward. Jaundiced babies require twice-daily blood testing to check the level of bilirubin in the blood. This is ideally done with something called a ‘centrifuge’ machine, which rapidly tests the blood. Sadly, in High Wycombe, there is no centrifuge machine.

High Wycombe Hospital’s current alternative, without one of these innovative pieces of kit, is a blood test into a vein in the back of the baby’s hand. Finding a vein in the tiny hand of a baby for this invasive procedure is not an easy task for the medical team and can take many attempts - painful for the baby and distressing for all involved.

The blood is then sent to a laboratory and waiting for the results takes hours.

Fast forward to the fantastic centrifuge facility available instead at Stoke Mandeville.

Here, when we took Rafa for the same twice-daily blood tests, the state-of-the-art centrifuge was able to easily administer a simple and pain-free single prick to Rafa’s heel, and then quickly spin the blood in the machine to determine an accurate result.

This is quick and reassuring – less waiting time and less drain on hospital resources. All with absolutely minimum distress for Rafa (and us!).

So, a few weeks later of heel pricking, blood spinning and effective management, our radiant Rafa was discharged. The care Rafa received had been amazing and after chatting to the Paediatric Sister, Sue and Allison, the Midwifery Matron it was clear that one of these machines would greatly benefit High Wycombe hospital also.

What if we brought a centrifuge machine right here to High Wycombe? A machine that could offer simple, pain-free tests, delivered in less than 10 minutes, easing the distress of babies and parents while saving all those precious travel hours. At the same time, we would be furnishing our already fabulous Wycombe Birth Centre with a state-of-the-art machine to benefit babies for years to come and to support the amazing midwives in all their wonderful work in our local community.

So, that’s why we now want to raise £2,500 to make this a reality - to buy a centrifuge machine that would benefit 150 families every year in High Wycombe and the surrounding area.

So, our mission has started, and we’d absolutely love you to get involved to make a real difference.

If you’re able to help children like Rafa along this journey, we would be more grateful than you’ll know.

You can either simply donate here or – you can buy a ticket to our fabulous silent disco fundraiser by emailing pennsilentdisco@gmail.com

Thank you so much for reading and thank you for being part of this amazing project.

Tim and Clare Moore. X