Supporting Southmead Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

26 March 2018 by

On the 21st April the Mojo Muddy Madness will take place and 20% of the race profits will be donated to The Southmead Hospital Charity for their Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). We are supporting this charity for the wonderful support they give local families and recently they looked after Mojo Mark’s sister and her newborn twin sons. To find out more about Mojo Muddy Madness, please click here.

Here Lisa (Mojo Mark’s sister) tells us about her experience at Southmead Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit:

“When we discovered that we were expecting twins we were told to expect them to arrive early. My waters broke at 34 weeks. On the assessment ward we were told that the twins would need to go to NICU straight away when born as they would need extra support.We felt very anxious but the nurses were very reassuring and kind. The twins were born by emergency C-section on Boxing day, we were not able to hold them, they were put in an incubator and taken straight to NICU. Aaron followed within an hour. I was not able to see them until 12 hours later. This was so hard, I was so poorly that I only managed to see them for 5 minutes and then had to wait until the following morning to really meet my boys. I was so overwhelmed, seeing them in their incubators, not being able to hold them. Talking to them through the glass. The nurses were amazing, they explained every wire and tube and reassured us that they were doing ok.

NICU is another world…. a world of emotions that you never knew existed. We spent 16 days in there, spending every hour possible there, sometimes staying over night, sleeping in the chairs next to the Twins. When we did have to go home it was the hardest thing we’ve ever had to do….. to walk out of the hospital and leave the twins behind was heartbreaking and never got easier. The only comfort was knowing that the twins were in the best care possible, with the most amazing nurses looking after them. We could call at anytime throughout the night, I called many times every night!

Each day the twins made small progress and got stronger. The Doctors, nurses, midwives and all the staff were all so kind and comforting and made our journey so much more bearable. We built close rapports with the nurses looking after the twins. We will be forever grateful for the exceptionally high level of care we received.

Aaron and I really appreciate the Mojo Muddy Madness event supporting The Southmead Hospital Charity and raising money for the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. The unit is in desperate need of Twin cots and comfortable reclining chairs for the parents, to make it more comfortable to be alongside their babies. They only have 2 twin cots for the whole unit yet Bristol has one of the highest multiple birth rates and over 50% of those will be born early and need NICU’S support”.

Many thanks Lisa, Aaron and babies Louie and Torin x

The Mojo Muddy Madness event takes place in the morning of the 21st April - there’s a mini 1 miler, 5k (7 years +) and a 10k (16 years +) course and every runner will receive a medal. To find out more click here