A campaign is aiming to raise £150,000 to provide new equipment for a hospital unit which saves the lives of newborn babies.
The Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU) at North Devon District Hospital, Barnstaple, is in need of new ventilators, incubators, breast pumps and phototherapy machines.
The eight-cot ward cares for poorly newborn infants and pre-term babies from 30 weeks onwards.
It also stabilises very sick pre-term and term infants.
Of the eight cots, two are fitted with intensive care equipment.
Liz Mills, ward manager and lead nurse for neonatal and paediatrics, said each new ventilator could replace three devices and were lifesaving pieces of equipment.
“When the babies escalate to this sort of need it is because their lives are at risk,” she said.
The two new incubators which the hospital hopes to acquire are designed to carry out a range of functions including resuscitation, safe transport, delivery of oxygen and humidity and keeping babies warm.
Liz said the ward also needed as many breast pumps as it could get, both for the hospital and for mothers to take home.
“We are a rural area and some mothers have to travel from Bude and beyond,” she said.
“If they are having or want to express milk it is wonderful if you can send them home with a breast pump fit for purpose.
“We feel very strongly that parents need to do as much as they can for their babies. We are not just about intensive care.”
Another piece of equipment Liz would love to raise enough money for is a tablet so parents forced to leave their babies in hospital can Skype them from home.
“One of our jobs is to give the parents the best journey they can have at such an emotional time,” she said.
“All of these things help parents and improve their bonding.”
Ian Roome, fundraising manager for Trust charity Over and Above, said: “This appeal will help us raise vital funds to enable the charity to provide the latest specialist equipment, such as the latest ventilators and incubators to meet the needs of our youngest patients.
“This equipment will help our doctors and nurses in our Special Care Baby Unit provide the very best possible care at a time when it is needed the most.”
Visit http://campaign.justgiving.com/charity/overandabove/scbu to make a donation.
Article and photo courtesy of North Devon Journal