Gabrielle, Andrew and Sebastian
We first met Kirsten from Spoons when Sebastian was around a week old. He had been moved from ICU to high dependency. After that, we spoke with Kirsten on several other occasions, she just wanted to check in and make sure we were OK.
Gabrielle told us a little more about her personal experience of Spoons:
Spoons, to me, felt like a helpful support that was there if I needed it. The subsequent events like baby massage that we attended after Sebby was discharged were also really helpful.
I think Spoons helped me build a network of friends among other mums in the exact same position.
There are so many challenges for families experiencing neonatal care. For example, it can be so difficult not to put pressure on yourself. ‘Am I staying long enough at the hospital? Am I staying too long?’ etc. You never feel that you are doing enough – which is definitely a ‘Mum thing’ but heightened when your baby has had a bit of a rocky start!
If I could share some advice with others going through it, it would be to say – you are doing enough! Don’t put too much pressure on yourself. You have to look after yourself so you can be there for your baby!
When Sebby was in the hospital I knew that he was being looked after by people who knew more than I did at that point, so I would say trust them, let them take the pressure off. Reach out to other mums in the milking room. Everyone is going through it.
Set up a WhatsApp group of other mums who are in a similar position at the hospital. I still regularly speak to the mums who were in hospital at the same time as Sebby and I.
