Miracle Babies Foundation

Today, April 20th, is Volunteer Recognition Day. It's the day to honour, recognize and celebrate the selfless individuals who volunteer their time and energy to help others and promote good causes. Our volunteers provide an integral service within Miracle Babies Foundation, helping many families through their Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) or Special Care Nursery (SCN) journey, and in raising awareness and much needed funds. Volunteers of Miracle Babies Foundation work together for a common goal of providing "better, healthier outcomes for newborns and their families challenged by prematurity or sickness." Krista Neubeck is one of our Head Office Volunteers and has been with Miracle Babies Foundation for 2 years. She spends 2 days a week, helping with some admin tasks including our resources, knitting donations and crib runs and you will always find her with a smile on her face. " I was born with a disability, so I enjoy giving back to the hospitals that helped me through my difficult journey. Volunteering for such a wonderful cause is very rewarding and I enjoy being part of the team". Thank you to all our Miracle Babies Volunteers for their continued dedication to our miracle families. They are the lifeblood of our organisation and without them, we would not be able to continue our work across Australia. Have you ever thought of Corporate volunteering? It's a great way to give back and make a real difference to families of premature and sick newborns. Click here to find out more information and express your interest: https://lnkd.in/gaftvtjr

This week, Australian Red Cross Lifeblood generously provided the Miracle Babies Team with a tour of their facility located in Alexandria, NSW. Lifeblood is a branch of the Australian Red Cross responsible for collecting and distributing blood and biological products in Australia. In 2018, Australian Red Cross Lifeblood opened its first milk facility in New South Wales. Since then, they have collected over 10,000 litres of breast milk, providing vital nutrition to more than 6,500 pre-term babies. This is an amazing achievement in supporting families of premature and sick newborns. Miracle Babies is grateful for Lifeblood allowing us to visit the facility and learn more about what they do. We look forward to contributing to such important work in supporting families of premature and sick babies.

Staff Highlight: Today we celebrate Olivia Markis our Office Manager who has been an employee of the Miracle Babies team for 3 years. Congratulations Olivia! Olivia is mum to Miracle twins, Ethan and Mary who were born at 27 weeks. It was a difficult and emotional time for her not knowing what was happening with little understanding of why and how this happened. With the support of Miracle Babies, Olivia and her family could stay strong. The twins are now 10 years old and thriving. Olivia is passionate about her position with Miracle Babies as the Office Manager and is proud to be part of such a wonderful team. Thank you Olivia, for the amazing work that you do, and we are so incredibly lucky to celebrate 3 years of having you on our team.

At the PSANZ 2024 Congress, our NurtureProgram Services Manager Tina Parker met Jemma Hartley from The Little Miracles Trust, a parent organization in New Zealand. "I had the pleasure of meeting Family Support Co-Ordinator Jemma Hartley from The Little Miracles Trust at the PSANZ Conference in Christchurch this week. It was wonderful to hear about the amazing work they do supporting New Zealand whānau of premature and unwell babies." - Tina Parker Thank you The Little Miracles Trust for all the wonderful work you provide to premature and sick babies.

'No matter how long our babies are with us in our pregnancy or in our arms, their impact on our heart and lives is so great and forever'  Kylie Pussell, our CEO and CoFounder shares her message to health care professionals working with families through miscarriage, stillbirth, perinatal loss and palliative care. As a bereaved parent sharing her journey and her parent voice with health care professionals to improve care, treatment, communication and outcomes, there are emotional times, the grief is real and always there. At the 2024 PSANZ Annual Scientific Meeting the PSANZ Special Interest Group on Perinatal Ethics held a session which evoked so much deep conversation and discussion. Parents' perspectives were represented by Kylie Pussell and Pieta Shakes.   Miscarriage, stillbirth, perinatal loss, palliative care - changes you forever! It's life changing and we need to make sure we provide a safe space at home, family, work, community - everywhere that families can talk and share when they are ready about their baby. #miraclebabies #yourstory #mystory #neonatalcare #nicu #scn #saytheirname #neonatalloss #palliativecare #miscarriage #stillbirth #heartbreak #lifechanging #grief #bereavement #safespace Through the Unexpected The Pink Elephants Support Network Red Nose Australia PANDA - Perinatal Anxiety & Depression Australia Bear Cottage SANDS Bears Of Hope Pregnancy & Infant Loss Support Inc

Staff Highlight: Today we celebrate Thalia Del Castillo our Marketing and Admin Assistant on her one year anniversary with Miracle Babies. Congratulations Thalia! Thalia joined Miracle Babies with a personal connection to the cause. Thalia has a partner who was born prematurely, suffering ongoing challenges in his adult life. Learning of and understanding the experiences of families beyond the NICU, she is very passionate about making a difference and supporting the work of the Foundation. Thalia always brings a calm and positive energy, she is thoughtful, creative and we love having her as part of the team! Through her marketing role Thalia has introduced fresh ideas and thinking and continues to improve the Foundation’s work to raise awareness within the community. She also manages our Regular Giving Program, relationships with business supporters and all of Miracle Babies’ social media. "Working for Miracle Babies Foundation has allowed me to realise how rewarding it is to work in the not-for-profit sector and I am very lucky to work with such an awesome team who all contribute to the success of the organisation". Thank you Thalia, for the amazing work that you do, and we are so incredibly lucky to celebrate an entire year of having you on our team.

Last week, Hon Donna Faragher, Member for East Metropolitan Region and Shadow Minister for Community Services visited our Willetton NurtureGroup. Donna enjoyed meeting our NurtureGroup families and listening to their stories. Our NurtureProgram Team Leader, Megan Norbury also shared the important support Miracle Babies Foundation provides to families of premature and sick newborns. Thank you, Donna Faragher, for coming and showing your support, it was a pleasure having you at one of our NurtureGroups.

Miracles Babies Foundation is proud to be involved in the Poster Walk at the Perinatal Society of Australia and New Zealand's (PSANZ) annual congress. This is the first official poster at PSANZ for Miracle Babies about our valuable resource, Nurture E Information Hub. Our Information Hub is designed to assist you and your family through different life stages of your growing and developing child beyond the baby, infant and toddler years. Nurture E - The EEE Impact has been created in collaboration with parents and health professionals to provide Evidence, Education and Empowerment. We received some great feedback about our Nurture E Information Hub from Clinicians and Health Professionals. "The EEE resource deserves a AAA rating" - Professor John Newnham "Many parents whose babies have been born preterm tell me that having access to high quality evidenced-based resources and education after their baby has been discharged is incredibly important. These parents have usually missed attending antenatal education classes because their baby was born preterm, and so to have access to resources especially designed for babies who have been in NICU or Special care is hugely valued" - Rosemarie Boland Pictured: Kylie Pussell (CEO, Miracle Babies), Robert Guaran (Neonatologist and Miracle Babies Board Director), Professor John Newnham (Chair of the Australian Preterm Birth Prevention Alliance).

Recently, we caught up with Katie and Graeme, long-time Miracle Babies Foundation supporters. Katie, who has fundraised for many years, will be heading over to London to compete in the London Marathon on Sunday 21st April 2024. Katie was born a premature twin herself and knows what her mother had to go through. Over the years she has participated in different marathons in several countries and this year she is super excited to participate in the London Marathon. Let's get behind Katie and support her as she runs to raise money for premature and sick newborns and their families. Donate here: https://lnkd.in/gkEjjc9G Also, a big thank you to Graeme for providing your services and assisting Miracle Babies Foundation.

On April 4th, Robert Guaran, Miracle Babies Board Director, celebrated 30 years with Liverpool Hospital. Robert has been involved with Miracle Babies Foundation since its very beginning in 2005 and a Board Director since 2011.   Miracle Babies Foundation started in Sydney’s South-West with Liverpool Hospital the Founding Partnering Hospital for its NurtureProgram and we are honoured to have continued this close relationship as our program continued to expand to more Hospitals across the country.   We acknowledge and thank the wonderful work of all of Australia’s Neonatal Staff, Allied Health and all Health Professionals that care for premature and sick babies born each year and their families.   Robert is a Neonatalogist, a doctor who specialises in caring for newborns with complex or high-risk health problems such as prematurity and shares one highlight of his time was in fact being part of initial discussions which led to the initiation of Miracle Babies, providing peer support to families impacted by prematurity or sickness at birth. Thank you Robert and to the entire team for all that you do for premature and sick babies and their families.