Miriam’s Story

I first came into contact with Spoons on the NICU at the Royal Oldham Hospital. My daughter was born at 23 weeks only weighing 416 grams.

Spoons means so much to me and my family. They have been a huge support to us and a big part of our NICU and beyond journey.

They have made sure that we are aware of the support we may be eligible for and provided a safe space for us to come and socialise with other parents who have been in a similar situation, so understand my anxieties, they have even allowed my older child to attend classes too. I have recently started trauma therapy provided by Spoons to come to terms with what happened during my pregnancy and whilst having my daughter in the NICU, this has been invaluable in my healing journey.

I think the key challenges of having a child in the NICU is being able to balance life outside of NICU, especially having other small children who wouldn’t quite understand what’s going on. I found this difficult as I couldn’t take my eldest (1 year old) to visit often as it wouldn’t be fair on him and would most probably cause mayhem!

Not being able to do all of your baby’s care is also a big challenge as it can make you feel helpless and that bonding time you would normally get has been stripped away.

For other parents going through this, I would say be kind to yourself. Don’t feel pressured to spend every waking hour in the NICU, your babies are being well looked after.