Kenna Evans, Branch Coordinator for NCT Doncaster, tells us about her experience of having a premature baby and why her branch has started a project to help others in the same boat
My name is Kenna. I am happily married to my husband Owen. We are blessed parents to Rhys, five, Cerys, three, and Jasper, one.
Volunteering helped me have something for me that also involved the children
I started volunteering for the branch when Cerys was a few months old. I was offering use of my washing machine for the launch of the nappy library.
From then on I was hooked on being a volunteer. It helped me through sleepless nights and gave me something to look forward to.
Myself and the other volunteers feel there is a great sense of coming together that’s spreading everywhere across the Doncaster area. All of our branch groups and events are greatly received by the community.
We are extremely proud of our Mother and Baby Bundles, which is a project to support parents of premature babies.
We’ve been able to give back to the community through this project and we’d love to have the money to be able to make more Mother and Baby Bundles.
This is something I really care about. I was a premature baby almost 28 years ago and I always thought that would mean I’d have premature babies myself.
I ended up with two full-term babies and one premature (Jasper, pictured).
The idea was to create a box of essentials that you’d usually have packed into your hospital bag.
This means that mums that have a premature baby have things like a toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, face wipes, hairbrush, mirror, lip balm, maternity briefs, maternity pads, breast pads, nightie, flip-flops and energy bars.
And for the babies we have tiny baby vests, a blanket and hat.
We also include a congratulations card and information about NCT Doncaster branch services, groups and events.
Our hope is that it relieves some of the stress so the new parents have more time to spend with their baby and don’t have to worry about the little things.
They are distributed on the Neonatal and Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at the Doncaster Royal Infirmary.
I had the privilege of meeting the staff and dropping off the bundles. They were greatly received and staff were blown away by them.
We had raised money at a Diamond Jubilee Teddy Bear’s Picnic, which we used to buy all the items to put into the bundles.
I was semi-prepared for Jasper’s arrival at 31 weeks. I had started bleeding 10 days before he came into the world.
We were told it was highly possible that he would be early and I was given two doses of steroids to aid his development.
The day came for him to arrive and we were rushed to theatre early in the morning. He was born weighing 3lb and 12oz.
I got to have a quick look at him before he was taken off to the NICU. I then had a painstaking wait for 12 hours before I got to meet my baby.
Jasper was breathing for himself straightaway but he still had probes and intravenous tubes coming out of his incubator. I spent 10 days staying at the hospital with him.
I felt torn between wanting to be by his side 24/7 and wanting to be at home with my other children. That was the hardest part – no matter what I did I felt guilty.
He was then moved to another hospital 30 minutes away. I was devastated and couldn’t imagine being so far away from my boy.
He then spent another five weeks in Special Care. We visited him in the evenings and on weekends, so my husband could still work and we could see him together.
He spent his first Christmas there – not at home with us which made for a day of very mixed emotions.
There were days when he didn’t have a visitor at all because we all ended up poorly.
Trying to see the positives in all situations really helped me pull through and stay strong
The NICU journey is full of ups and downs. I’d say focus on one day at a time.
It’s a rollercoaster. You can go from being on the top of the world to down in the gutters in a matter of hours.
Finally, no matter how much it seems like you are saying the same things over again, talk to someone, anyone, about how you’re feeling.
I know my friends must have had enough of the same updates on Jasper, along with the same worries, but it helped me process what we were all going through together.
Volunteering with NCT will give you an opportunity to learn new skills and rediscover old ones. And, you can enjoy getting to know other parents in your area and gain a real sense of achievement from knowing you’re helping others.
For more information on premature babies and the support that’s available, click here.
