In March 2026 I will be running the Reading Half Marathon, raising money for BIBS.

In August 2025, my son Guy was born at 37 weeks at the Royal Berkshire Hospital. I was induced early due to suspected PPROM at 22 weeks. After a stressful pregnancy and a quick labour, I was so happy that our son was finally here safe. A few hours after Guy was born and we were on the Iffley Ward, there were some concerns about Guy’s breathing. He was working too hard to breathe and his oxygen levels were low. He was rushed up to the Buscot ward once the doctors were able to stabilise him. Guy spent 8 days in the NICU and needed to be ventilated the first night he was there. Guy had suspected sepsis and needed some help with his lungs where he was a few weeks early. It was an incredibly hard and scary time, not knowing what would happen, not being able to hold him and seeing his little body go through so much.

Guy received the most amazing care during his time on the neonatal unit. We experienced first hand the positive impact from the money BIBS fundraises. Guy benefitted from the equipment on the ward, including the incubator, ventilator and phototherapy units. There is a family room on the ward which meant we could have hot drinks, somewhere to heat up food and snacks. There were also lots of toys which really helped when our daughter visited. We benefitted from the flats on the ward. We were able to stay on the same floor as Guy, which meant that we could be close to him and I could establish breastfeeding once Guy no longer needed oxygen support. The charity also provided the breast pumps on the ward. This meant that I could pump whilst I was unable to feed Guy and they could give it to him via a feeding tube. Along with the emotional support from all the staff and the family support worker, these are just a few of the ways we benefited from the amazing work the charity does.

I don’t think there will ever be a way that I could thank all the nurses and doctors enough for helping Guy and the support they gave to our family during the time we were there.

It would mean so much if you would consider donating, to help raise funds that will help and support future families in need of care on the Buscot Ward.

Thank you for your support.

Babies in Buscot Support (BIBS) are a small charity supporting babies and their families on the neonatal unit, Buscot Ward at the Royal Berkshire Hospital.

The charity focuses in four main areas of activity, which we call keeping Buscot families "SAFE":

Support - providing families with independent emotional support while their baby is on Buscot, and beyond.

Awareness - we help inform parents about what to expect from a stay on Buscot by providing written information and we raise awareness of issues related to prematurity or sickness at birth.

Facilities - we refurbish facilities and accommodation on the ward to provide a more homely environment.

Equipment - We fund state of the art equipment for the ward including incubators, cardiac monitors, ventilators, phototherapy units and much more.