500 babies each year need special care from East Surrey Hospital at the very start of their lives. Since 2020, your donations to Olive's Appeal, and a major investment by Surrey & Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust (SASH) have transformed the neonatal unit which cares for these babies and their families.
With your help, we want to do more for families of premature or unwell babies here in Surrey and Sussex.
Inspired by Olive, who is now 8, and spent the first 3 months of her life in the neonatal unit, Olive's Appeal supports the neonatal unit at East Surrey Hospital. Your donations have helped provide five state of the art incubators for our smallest patients, to decorate the whole unit with a calming rainforest theme, as well as to transform an empty room into a beautiful new family room for parents to step away from the clinical environment.
A transport incubator for the smallest babies
Thanks to your ongoing support - the Neonatal unit is a beautifully designed, state of the art environment for Level 2 Neonatal care.
However, at times very vulnerable sick babies need to be moved to another area of the hospital without compromising body temperature, ongoing treatment from ventilatory support and complex IV medication administration, exposure to infection, and providing a secure, portable unit to reduce noise and light over stimulation.
We are now asking for your help to provide a specialist neonatal transport incubator, to further enhance the care we can provide to the smallest babies here in the hospital.
The new transport incubator will enhance the care we can provide when it is necessary to move vulnerable, sick, premature or newborn babies from one area of the hospital to another. This will include moving babies from the delivery suite to the Neonatal Unit, or to other parts of the hospital for scans, or from the paediatric emergency department up to the Neonatal Unit.
These journeys can be loud, bright, and it is a challenge for staff to minimise the risk of infection transmission from staff and public walking around the hospital. The new transport incubator would help to maintain the baby’s body temperature, which has a significant impact on their health.
Where babies are receiving oxygen, or IV medication, it can be a challenge to coordinate moving the equipment needed to support the needs of the baby. The new transport incubator would make this process significantly less complex.
A donation of any size will directly help the care for our smallest, and most vulnerable patients. You will potentially help to save lives.
A breast pump library to help new mums
Every mother deserves the chance to provide breastmilk for her baby, but for those whose little ones are admitted to the neonatal unit, this can be a challenge. Currently, our Breast Pump Loan Library is unable to meet the demand from mothers who are eager to breastfeed but find themselves without the necessary resources.
With your help, we can change that.
Not having access to a breast pump can significantly impact a mother’s milk supply, making it hard to breastfeed later. Many of these families wouldn't anticipate needing one and are suddenly faced with this added pressure during an already overwhelming time of the early arrival of their new baby.
By expanding our Breast Pump Loan Library at East Surrey Hospital, we can ensure that every mother who wants to breastfeed has the tools to do so, regardless of their circumstances. Your donation will directly support these families, giving them one less thing to worry about during a difficult period.
Can you help us make overnight stays more comfortable for new parents?
Alongside the new transport incubator, we hope to raise the funds to enhance an overnight room where parents stay alongside their new baby. Making this clinical room feel more homely for the parents, whilst still caring for our smallest patients.
Please consider donating now - and help provide a comfortable new space for parents and babies at an incredibly challenging time in their lives.
You can also support the neonatal unit at East Surrey Hospital by purchasing items from the wishlist below. All items on the wish list have been added by our amazing neonatal team.
Or from a mobile phone - Text OLIVE to 70085 to donate £3 to our neonatal unit appeal *This costs £3 plus a std rate message.*
