10/05/2026
Honouring Every Mother’s Journey This Mother’s Day!
Mother’s Day is a time to celebrate the strength, love and care that mothers bring into the world. It’s a day of gratitude, reflection and connection, but it can also bring mixed emotions for many families.
While it’s a celebration of motherhood for many, for others it can reflect a different journey, including early arrivals, time in a neonatal unit, or moments of uncertainty. And for some, it’s a quiet day remembering a baby deeply loved and never forgotten.
At Miracle Babies Foundation, we know there’s no one way to experience motherhood. Every journey is different and every story matters. Every mum deserves to feel seen, supported and valued, today and every day.
This Mother’s Day, we honour all mothers and caregivers across Australia and beyond.
We celebrate:
- Mothers currently navigating the neonatal unit journey.
- Mothers whose babies arrived prematurely or with medical complications
- Mothers who have walked the neonatal journey and still carry it with them
- Mothers remembering babies deeply loved and always held in their hearts
- Foster mums, adoptive mums, stepmums, grandmothers, and all mother figures who provide care, comfort, and unconditional love
At Miracle Babies Foundation, we believe that no family should navigate the neonatal journey alone.
Through our NurtureProgram, we provide ongoing support to families impacted by premature or sick birth. Our services are built on lived experience, connecting you with people who’ve been through a similar journey and beyond.
As a small gesture of hope and reassurance, and also a special acknowledgement of the journey that these mums face, each year Miracle Babies Foundation provides Mother’s Day gifts to mothers right across the country in the Neonatal Unit.
In 2026, we sent 1,527 Mother’s Day gifts to 62 hospitals nationwide, supporting families across Australia.
We thank CommBank for sponsoring part of the Mother's Day gift this year.
This year, we spoke with miracle mum Caitlyn Rawlings, who is a Miracle Babies volunteer and community hero. After receiving support from our team during her neonatal journey, Caitlyn now gives back by volunteering at our WA NurtureGroup and staying involved in our community.
Can you please share a little about your NICU/SCN experience, including some of the highlights and the toughest moments of your journey?
We had a somewhat difficult journey with Alecia, who was born at 28+2 on 2 March 2023. We spent three weeks at KEMH and six weeks at FSH.
We had what at the time felt like a lot of medical issues.
Within 48 hours of life, Alecia got sepsis and staph epi (Staphylococcus epidermidis).
It took about two weeks of antibiotics to recover, then at four weeks old (32 weeks gestational age), she had an abnormal brain ultrasound showing she had had a brain bleed and, following an MRI, was diagnosed with a neuronal migration brain disorder - bilateral perisylvian polymicrogyria and that was a lot to process ❤️🩹however, we met Megan with MBF about two weeks later, and she helped me feel seen. I was already struggling with having a premature baby and feeling like no one I knew had any idea what I was going through, then to add a medical complication into that was a whirlwind.
How did you feel about getting out of the hospital just before your first Mother's Day?
I remember thinking how was I going to spend my first Mother’s Day in hospital and juggle seeing my mum and my mother-in-law all in the same day when I didn’t want to be anywhere else than beside my baby. However, we got so lucky and we got discharged three days before Mother’s Day, and that feeling of waking up on Mother’s Day with my baby at home and family coming to us was probably one of my highlights for the first year.
What words of encouragement do you have for parents who have a baby in the NICU and have to spend Mother’s Day in the hospital?
This isn't how you imagined it, but you are an incredibly strong, loving mother, and being by your baby’s side is all that matters.
Don’t let family make you feel bad about it!
Thank you, Caity for sharing your story.
We hope that all Miracle Mums across Australia have a special Mother’s Day! ♥
