Welcome

My name is Sam and I am a Wife, Mother, Daughter, Sister & Friend.

Back in 2017, my husband and I welcomed our first child, T, into the world. During my pregnancy, we were unprepared for the news that our baby had a developmental defect. There were so many unknowns during the pregnancy, and once T had arrived, he immediately became a patient in our local Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

It took me a long time to come to terms with our experience and I admit, there are still days where I struggle to reflect on certain aspects. Almost four years later, after the birth of our second Son, J, I feel ready to share our story. My hope is that I can help others going through or have been through a similar experience to us. Every family will have their own unique experience – I am here to share what we encountered.

I have added the Time to Talk NICU feature where you will find blogs by invited guests! I felt that whilst it was good to share my experience, that hearing from other NICU parents and also professionals who have helped support families before, during and after their NICU experience would be really beneficial. I hope it’s a feature that you all come to enjoy.

I am hopeful that this website can raise awareness of what it means to be a NICU parent. I want to explore the effects it can have on families short term and long term, in the hope that I can help families in the future. There is no right or wrong way to deal with the reality of being a NICU parent; you just have to do what’s best for you and your family at the time.