Our family’s connection to St George’s hospital began when I was pregnant with my first child I was so so happy! I’ve always wanted a baby, my sister had her baby when she was very young so I was used to having small nieces around and I felt I was settled in life and ready for the next chapter. I just couldn’t wait to meet him! Turns out he couldn’t wait to meet us either and to my absolute disbelief I went into preterm labour at 3:10am on 9th November 2016. We spent a week at Queens hospital in Romford, as we lived in Essex at the time, unfortunately his condition was deteriorating and the doctors said we will likely be transferred. Queens hospital didn’t have a surgical team and they told me the treatment he required couldn’t be provided there, a short while later a nurse approached us and said he had been given a place at St. George’s hospital, I was happy because I knew that was what he needed but I was also terrified.

I’ll never forget that transfer, we walked through the hospital to get to the ambulance, I was behind my baby in his incubator and all his tubes, everyone we passed stared at his tiny body and would then look up at me in pity, I felt so helpless and like I wasn’t deserving because my body failed my baby.

We were blue lighted in the ambulance to St.George’s hospital it was the early hours of the morning around 2am, our baby was taken straight to icu as the ambulance ride was quite distressing for him, and we just sat in an empty waiting room in the dark. The door opened and a lovely nurse came in with blankets and pillows she said there are no beds but we want to make you comfortable and sleep if we can, I felt her kindness and I knew my baby was in the right place.

As soon as it was a reasonable hour and I was allowed I went into see my baby, the first thing I noticed when I saw him was a small knitted hat had been put on him, he wasn’t dressed at the previous hospital and it was so lovely to see him in something and I felt hope that very first day.

We were offered a place to stay in the Ronald macdonald charity home based at St.George’s. It’s a home offered to parents with sick children who live far from the hospital, I couldn’t believe such a place existed, it was a world I knew nothing about.

Along with the accommodation offer, I remember I was also given two small pieces of square cloth so I could put one in my babys incubator and put one on me and be able to swap them so I could smell and be close to my baby, it’s the simplest idea but it meant the absolute world to me. I was handed a memory box to put his cpap mask in and his first label, a premature baby grow, a purple pin for national premature babies day the list goes on, all of these things were slowly making our whole experience less intense and more normal.

At the Ronald macdonald home there was a man who worked there, I’m ashamed to say I was in such a state I don’t remember his name, but that man would go to Greg’s everyday and would collect the unbrought fresh food and bring it to the house for us parents to make sure we ate and kept our strength up. One of those days he saw me eat a chicken salad and every day after he would reserve me one and ask me if I’d eaten and how I was feeling, he was an angel, a selfless amazing person who gained nothing from being so kind.

At the time I took all this help because I was so wrapped up in my own struggle. I thought I was strong for getting through it all but it wasn’t me, it was all the amazing people at St.Georges who work so hard to not only offer life saving care but more than that install what I can only describe as safety nets to catch people like me and my family and get us through. We had a rough stay with several set backs and I could go on all day with the stories I have from nicu and I did witness babies pass, I saw their parents crumble, but there in that same place at St George’s I also saw the kindest examples of humanity the gestures and the selfless staff that open their doors and keep going day in and day out, tirelessly. Thanks to their commitment I eventually got to walk out that hospital with my baby in my arms and I never want to forget that feeling because there are so many that are less fortunate than us and I owe so much to the people who helped us.

St George’s will forever be in our hearts 💙