Myself and my friend Maty are running the Perkins Great Eastern Run (13.2 miles) in Peterborough on 14 October 2018 to raise money for the Special Care Baby Unit at Hinchingbrooke Hospital.

This is a cause very close to my heart as the unit helped care for my daughter Eva, who was born two months prematurely in December 2017. Eva spent 4 weeks in the unit and without the phenomenal, skilful and meticulous care of the nurses and doctors it is unlikely that she would have survived.

The care that the nurses and doctors provide is crucial for a premature/sick babies survival; they provide 24/7 care for the babies, along with supporting parents through their emotional ordeal; I know that without their help and support we would have struggled and felt lost.

The unit consists of 10 cots including: one for babies requiring intensive care; one for babies needing high dependency care; and up to 8 special care cots. The unit is staffed by doctors and nurses with specialist skills and experience in looking after premature and sick babies.

There are many different reasons for a baby to be admitted to the Special Care Baby Unit. A baby may have been born earlier than expected or may need extra monitoring following birth. Babies admitted to the unit may need help with their breathing, feeding, temperature control and weight gain and may need close observation and monitoring.

My family will forever be thankful for all the support and care given to my beautiful daughter at the hardest time of our lives.

Any donation would gratefully be received and will go towards providing the essentials for both babies and parents.

Thank you for reading.