The Big Tiny Steps Appeal: Help us make the new Neonatal Unit a special place for the babies in our care and their families

Liverpool Womens Charity provides the Liverpool Women's Hospital with those aspects of care not possible with NHS funding, and we can only do this with the generosity of our supporters.

Your support will enable families to stay by their babies side during the most critical time of their lives. Creating a spacious, home-like and comfortable setting for our families with the most state of the art facilities close at hand will alleviate the pressures of having a baby in intensive care, enabling them to concentrate on being there for their babies.

Evidence shows that including families in the delivery of their babys care improves medical outcomes, results in a quicker discharge home and a better family experience. .

To enable Liverpool Womens new Neonatal Unit to offer the best possible care, we need your support to provide the following vital facilities for our families.

High Quality Comforts for Use at the Incubator and Cot-side

Reclining chairs will enhance the comfort of parents who spend many hours each day by their baby's side and will promote skin to skin which has been shown to increase babys oxygen, maintain their temperature and regulate their heartbeat.

Visitor seating will allow visitors to support their family members and prevent isolation.

Bedside lockers will provide a focal point for babys possessions and reduce infection. It is important to have a personal locker for a baby's clothes and belongings as it may be the only thing a parent feels they can have control over.

18 single cots and 4 twin cots will provide a new environment which will promote the highest level of care. Twins are shown to develop better if nursed with their sibling as each helps to regulate the heart and breathing rates of the other.

Additional Parents Accommodation

We will provide a further 7 bedrooms for parents and refurbish our two existing spaces so that more families have immediate access to their babies in intensive care at all times.

This will allow parents to stay close by, should they be needed urgently, without the additional cost of hotel accommodation over a prolonged period.

Parents Sitting Room, Kitchen and Laundry areas

These facilities will enhance the comfort of parents who spend m any hours each day by their baby's side, allowing them to have access to hot, nutritious food, comfortable home-like surroundings and basic living facilities.

With up to 50 babies in the unit at any one time, it is essential that these spaces exist to ensure parents eat at mealtimes and remain in good health.

We will also provide play facilities for siblings, enabling families to stay together during this very stressful time.

Improved Breastfeeding Facilities

We will provide a private, comfortable area for mothers to express their breastmilk, which is considered a medicine in Neonatal Intensive Care Units.

End of Life Suite

Parents will be able to spend time with their baby in a home-like, private setting, deciding when medical interventions and support are withdrawn at the end of life.

The room can also be used after a sudden death, allowing families to spend precious time with their baby. Supportive staff will continue to be on hand to help families make some positive memories in a peaceful environment during what is an extremely traumatic time.

Outdoor Sensory Garden

An outdoor space will, for the first time ever, enable parents on the Neonatal Unit to take their baby outside to feel the sun and breeze on their face and develop their senses. The sight and scent of flowers and sound of water features in this peaceful space will have great benefits to all.

This area will also be used for parents who need to take time away from a hospital setting, providing a place of peace and space to reflect, to benefit their own wellbeing. End of life care can also be delivered in this area, providing an element of comfort during very sad circumstances.

We urgently need these enhanced facilities to enable Neonatal staff to work in partnership with families to ensure babies receive not only world class clinical care but holistic family care. The new unit will open by Summer 2020 and our aim is to have the additional facilities for which we are raising funds in place in time for the opening.

If you wish to receive further information about The Big Tiny Steps Appeal, please contact fundraising@lwh.nhs.uk

Thank you for your support.