Supporting parents of premature babies through their baby’s unique journey. We help connect parents to each other, to family and friends, and to national and local support groups.
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Full Text of BMj re bedsharing and SIDS
By PJ on 21 May 2013 at 10:09pm
We thought we should add the full text of the BMJ research which confirms the increased risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome if you bedshare (have your baby sleep with you in your bed)
The clear conclusion is that if you are doing all the good things
- Breastfeeding
- Not smoking
- Not taking drugs
Yet still if...
Tamiflu and squandering money
By PJ on 21 May 2013 at 9:08pm
The UK is recognised by the World Health Organization as being one of the best prepared in the world for a potential flu pandemic
And we love this about the NHS.
Less keen to hear, via the National Audit Office that stockpiles of Tamiflu with nowhere to store it meant that £74m (yes seventy-four million pounds!) of public money.
...Bed sharing and sudden infant death
By PJ on 21 May 2013 at 8:32pm
If you are considering sharing your bed with your baby read the article below. It could save your baby's life.
Sharing your bed with your baby increases the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) five fold.......yes, 5 times increase in risk. This is a frightening figure.
Share your bedroom, by all means. Statistics also show that in the...
Wales calls for taboo on stillbirths to be broken
By on 10 May 2013 at 10:30pm
With thanks to the imagination tree for the salt dough image
Every week in Wales there are four stillbirths and more than half of these are unexplained
The chair of the Health and Social Care Committee, Vaughan Gething says that research is key to ensure fewer stillbirths in Wales.
"There is still too much we do not know about...
Twins from Ireland born 87 days apart
By Helene on 6 May 2013 at 11:45pm
Irish twins were born 87 days apart may enter the Guiness Book of Records. It is pleasing to see Guiness and Ireland hand in hand!
Amy and Katie live in Waterford, Ireland, with parents, Maria and Chris Jones-Elliot, and siblings Olivia and Jack.
Maria’s waters broke at 23 weeks and she was told to expect the worst.
...
When a travel cot just won't do: the nursery at the Grosvenor Hotel, London
By Helene on 4 May 2013 at 7:45am
The Grosvenor Hotel has engaged the services of children's interior design company Dragons of Walton Street to create a bespoke British baby suite, to ensure that families travelling with young children do not suffer any unneccessay deprivation, heaven forbid, by supplying baby luxury 24/7.
Princes William and Harry and Princesses Eugenie and...
Elective caesareans risking babies lives
By PJ on 2 May 2013 at 10:40pm
Photo from Guardian
It is hard to fathom as a parent of a premature baby but some women plan to have their babies early without sound medical reasons for doing so. Practical issues such as feeling uncomfortable or impending public holidays are reasons used to bring forward birth dates.
The health of thousands of babies born every...
At PJ we thought we would highlight, again, the wonderful invention of a practical and robust solution to the issue of keeping little babies warm in countries where resources and ongoing support are hard to find.
Embrace is anot-for-profitt organization that aims to help the millions of vulnerable babies born every year in developing countries through a low cost...
Vodafone saving the lives of premature babies in Ghana
By PJ on 2 May 2013 at 6:51am
With thanks to healthynewborn.network.org for image
The Vodafone Foundation has helped Tamale Teaching Hospital save over 90 premature babies following the donation of 10 incubators earlier this year.
The donation of these incubators has had a huge impact in the neonatal unit almost a year later, improving the chances of survival of the...
Cutting cord early 'risk to babies' and is a real issue for premature babies.
By PJ on 26 April 2013 at 9:16pm
With thanks to babble.com for photo
Cutting the umbilical cord immediately after birth - currently standard practice - puts the baby at risk of iron deficiency, experts say.
The practice in most hospitals these days is to cut the cord quickly after birth. Official guidelines are currently being reviewed because professionals...
Chelsea and First Touch's Tiny Garden created by Patrick Collins
By PJ on 25 April 2013 at 8:15am
Photo of Sarah, Issy and Patrick by Emma Dumford
First Touch, the wonderful neonatal charity based at St Georges Hospital in London, has done something truly special and different this year. This small charity has portrayed its work in a visual and organic way through the medium of a small and beautiful garden.
Absolutely everything,...
Vaccination and the luxury of exercising choice
By PJ on 24 April 2013 at 9:18pm
The small but signifcant number of people in the UK who are unable, for medical reasons, to have vaccinations such as MMR seem to be overlooked in the debate over parent's right to choose not to have their children immunised.
Adults, children and babies may be facing a series of medical conditions that, effectively, rob them of the luxury of getting a choice...
Sing baby, sing. Premature babies like lullabies
By PJ on 18 April 2013 at 11:36am
With thanks to drugline.org for photo
The Daily Mail may have slighty overplayed its hand in the headline “Playing music to premature babies ‘helps them sleep and improves their breathing’”
While positive effects of music were found by researchers it is still unclear whether this will lead to tangible health...
Measles outbreak in Swansea continues
By PJ on 16 April 2013 at 9:24pm
Image with thanks to artist © Richard Wilkinson
www.Richard-Wilkinson.com
At PJ we have written about the measles problem in Swansea where more than 700 people have contracted measles in the last few months....
Parents not informed of risk of blindness or death when taking part in research on their premature babies
By PJ on 12 April 2013 at 9:17am
Image: Cambridge University Hospital
U.S. officials say parents of 1,316 premature babies were not adequately advised of “reasonably foreseeable risks,” including blindness and death.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, in a letter dated March 7, said a research team led by Richard Marchase at the...
Chinese demand for foreign "safe" baby milk causes rationing in UK
By PJ on 11 April 2013 at 4:40pm
If you can only buy one tin of baby milk next time you go shopping it will be because someone, somewhere in China is going to great lengths to import "foreign" baby milk.
In Europe and USA we take it for granted that formula baby milk we buy is safe.
When a child is born in China, anxious new parents often prize one gift above all others:...
Measles epidemic in South Wales
By PJ on 6 April 2013 at 6:36am
This week 46 children have gone down with measles. We say "gone down" and it sounds trivial and just a childhood illness that a child can shake off but that is not the case. Measles is a serious and, sadlt for some, life threatening illness, that can be completely avoided by immunisation.
If you are consdering having your baby immunised act now...
Surrogate parents to a baby gorilla
By PJ on 29 March 2013 at 9:32am
With thanks to zooborn.com for the photo which has worrying hairy human qualities
Gladys is a 2 month old gorilla who is being cared for by zookeepers after her feckless mum decided looking after a baby was just too much hassle!
With no willing gorilla mum to step up humans in the form of a group of 10 zookeepers in the...
Children's heart surgery suspended at Leeds General Infirmary
By PJ on 29 March 2013 at 9:04am
Photo from Guardian Newspaper
A single day after High Court quashes plans to close children's unit after ruling that the consultation process was flawed all heart surgery on children at the hospital have been suspended.
The suspension takes effect immediately and, yet again, this hospital is back at centre stage in a long standing row...
Working while pregnant is not risky for your baby
By PJ on 26 March 2013 at 8:49pm
We avoided one of those smug photos of uber pregnant besuited and bespecked gorgeous "working women"!
New research shows that working during pregnancy does not increase a woman’s risk of having a premature baby or low birth-weight baby.
One less thing to feel guilty about for mums of premature babies or low birth weight!...
Premature Babies and NEC: exciting new research on Necrotizing Entercolitis
By PJ on 25 March 2013 at 8:51am
The acronym NEC (necrotizing enterolcolitis) sends a shiver through the very bones of any parent of a premature baby.NEC is the biggest killer of premature babies.
Exciting research reveals that amniotic fluid may hold the key to healing a fatal gut disease which affects premature babies, doctors say.
NEC is severe...
Bikini line waxing and molluscum contagiosum
By PJ on 19 March 2013 at 9:17am
With thanks to ScienceBlog for image. This is actually what the spots look like too!
At PJ we thought molluscum contagiosum was a worry for children but not really for adults but it seems we are behind the times!
Research published today tells a different story. Apparently waxing and shaving causes micro trauma to the skin, leaving...
Legal action over Furness General Hospital baby deaths
By PJ on 16 March 2013 at 9:34am
Joshua Titcombe whose death, at 9 days, was caused by neglect-photo Daily Mirror
No-one seems to have noticed that babies were dying and mothers too. No internal report, complaints or odd statistics caused concern either at a local or national level.
A hospital in the north of England is currently dealing with 37 cases of litigation...
The silent killer - stillbirth
By Helene on 13 March 2013 at 11:03pm
Just using a tape measure could make a difference
Stillbirth is Wales’ most common form of child mortality. That is a frightening fact. In 2011, 150 Welsh babies were stillborn.
There have been improvements in neonatal and infant mortality rates over the last decade but stillbirth rates have barely changed since the early 1990s. Why...
Premature babies and superbugs: a global threat
By PJ on 11 March 2013 at 9:45am
A reminder today has been given of the threat to our world from so called superbugs. The link to the BBC story is at the bottom of this piece. This is a key issue for premature babies.
Superbug resistance is a global threat. It happens when bacteria are able to survive medicines aimed to destroy them.
Bacteria can become resistant to antibiotics, viruses...
Irish surrogate twins have biological mum's name on birth certificates
By PJ on 6 March 2013 at 10:48pm
with thanks to domesticdiva for the photo
The genetic parents of twins born in Ireland through surrogacy have won a landmark legal challenge.
The parents, the biological parents of twins, had sought to be named as parents on the birth certificates. The babies were carried by the biological mum's sister and she was fully supportive of...
Fate, Hope and Charity
By PJ on 6 March 2013 at 9:26pm
With thanks to the Foundling Museum for the photo of tokens
If you haven’t been to the Foundling Museum in London it is well worth a visit. It is a gem of a museum, small and quite extraordinary in Brunswick Square, London WC1.
It is hard to imagine life as a foundling more than a quarter of a century ago but this unique place, with...
Premature baby killed by a kiss
By PJ on 5 March 2013 at 8:57am
With thanks to DrMoma.org for photo "Don't kiss me on the lips please!"
Two-month old Kaiden McCormick died of multiiple organ failure. The cause of his death was a cold sore virus. He spent six weeks on a life support machine but doctors were unable to save him.
Kaiden was born 5 weeks early but...
Learning and development needs of premature babies
By PJ on 27 February 2013 at 7:50pm
An amazing conference took place in London earlier this monthorganised by the National Forum for Neuroscience in special education.
Experts gathered to discuss the learning and neurodevelopmental needs of children born pre-term. The conference was sponsored by the Waterloo Foundation and Bliss
Delighted to share the link below which allows...
Babies hear syllables in the womb, says research
By PJ on 26 February 2013 at 8:34am
thanks to wales.nhs.uk for photo
Scientists have found evidence that babies decipher speech as early as three months before birth. But what does this mean for premature babies?
Brain scans carried out on premature babies born at 28 weeks showed that the babies were able to distinguish between different syllables like "ga" and...