Keep Me Close Appeal, Plymouth NICU
The neonatal intensive care unit in Plymouth was Hope-Roses home. Not only did they take amazing care of our angel, they took great care of us too. Without their outstanding efforts during what was the hardest time of our lives, it would have no doubt been even harder to have handled.
The NICU ward looks after over 1000 premature and sick babies every year from around the South West. As the ward has the highest expertise and equipment this side of Bristol they often have babies transferred from other hospitals in the South West, so that babies can be cared for at the highest level. The NICU ward currently has 4 parent accommodation rooms. Because of the nature of the care, parents are encouraged to stay close as, sadly, the lives of these children often hang in the balance. The ward wants to make sure that parents are close by in case approval is needed for urgent treatments or in the worst cases, so the parents can spent the final moments with their babies.
Fortunately, as we lived so far from Plymouth, we were able to use the NICU parent accommodation and this allowed us to be beside Hope-Rose’s bedside through her whole journey. Without this facility we could have potentially missed not only critical times of Hope-Rose’s life but also not been able to build the memories with her that we were able to.
The NICU is fundraising to allow them to provide better accommodation for the parents of the babies on the unit. They are hoping to build more rooms, fully functioning kitchens and en-suites so that parents staying can create a ‘home away from home’ assisting in the well being of the parents in what is an extremely stressful time.They made the best out of the worst situation you could ever imagine to be in and for this we will be forever grateful.
Hope-Rose's story.. https://www.northdevongazette.co.uk/news/familys-premature-baby-loss-and-funeral-1-6016719