Supporting #WorldPrematurityDay 2015

15 million babies are born too soon each year across the globe, that’s 29 babies every minute. Sadly around one million of these babies will not survive.

In 2008 organisations and charities came together to raise awareness of the issue and began to celebrate World Prematurity Day, on 17 November. Since then the event has gone from strength to strength and is now celebrated by millions of people around the world.

Best Beginnings’ Small Wonders Change Programme aims to provide support and consistent information to parents of preterm babies and to support staff training and development. The purpose of SWCP is to improve the application of these family-centered interventions by educating and empowering staff working within the neonatal service as well as parents of the babies being cared for.

We've turned purple for #WorldPrematurityDay...

Small Wonders is now in over 150 neonatal units in the UK and a recent independent evaluation has shown that the programme has been successful in improving:

staff knowledge and confidence relating to supporting preterm breast milk feeding and other parent centred care interventions
parental experience
amount of breast milk received.

The main component of SWCP is a series of short films, made available on a DVD and online. The films were made alongside parents and healthcare professionals and involved filming 14 families with premature and sick babies for over a year. Each film covers a different topic: 1. Introduction, 2. Birth, 3. First hours, 4. Expressing breast milk, 5. Holding your baby, 6. Your time in hospital, 7. Feeding independently, 8. Preparing for home, 9. First Months at home, 10. Twins and triplets, 11. Bereavement, 12. One year on.

Your support can help us to build on this success and ensure the DVD is used as effectively as possible to improve health outcomes for premature and sick babies. Please donate now. Thank you for helping us to give every child in the UK the best start in life.

More information about World Prematurity Day 2015 can be found on Bliss’ website.

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