Thank you NICU doctors and nurses

When I found out I was in premature labour, we were taken to a hospital far away from home. It was a whirlwind three days, going from 'textbook pregnancy' to becoming a mum to a 26-weeker, and it took some time to process everything that happened.

I was staying on a postnatal ward at the Royal London Hospital and, finding it impossible to sleep, ventured up to NICU to spend some time with my newborn son, Adam. He had made his entrance into the world at 9am that morning before being promptly whisked away and things were very different to how I had imagined my first night of motherhood. Paul, my husband, couldn’t stay so I was alone, sore, exhausted, emotional and still incredibly confused.

Doctors and procedures

As I entered the ward and approached cot 17, I saw there was some activity around Adam – two doctors were performing a procedure. He was lit by a bright light and under a green sheet so I couldn't see too much of his tiny body. I asked what they were doing and they explained that they were trying to insert a long-line in through his umbilical cord to provide the nutrients that he would need to help him stay strong. Looking back now, I don't know how I had the strength to stay and watch but I pulled up a stool and sat by his bedside as they painstakingly tried to complete the procedure.

Always grateful for friendly smiles

I must have been there for a while but it was then that Katie came in, a nurse on the NICU night shift. I think she probably sensed that it would be better if I wasn't focused on what the doctors were doing and kindly asked if I wanted any help and advice with expressing and help using the hospital breast pumps. It wasn’t even something that I had given much thought to but I had always planned to try breastfeeding so thought it would be useful to find out more. Even though my milk hadn’t yet come in, she took me to the expressing room and spent a long while explaining everything from the importance of the first few drops of colostrum through to sterilising, storing breastmilk, how to use the pumps and how to increase my own milk supply if I needed to. 

Looking back, I realise that she was probably doing this to provide a distraction to the procedure that was happening back on the ward but the time she spent with me gave me a purpose – although I couldn’t yet be a mum in the traditional sense, I focused on doing what I could and successfully expressed through the entire 12 weeks that Adam was in hospital and beyond.

I will always be grateful to Katie and all the other NICU doctors and nurses that we crossed paths with during our hospital stay. The advice, friendly smiles and time they spent with us made us feel reassured when things so often could have been overwhelming.

Thanks to Leanne Curry for sharing Adam’s story.