Nadia helps parents with premature babies

For many years, working mother Nadia Griffin has been a huge support to parents who have premature babies, ensuring they receive the best possible support during a difficult time.

Having her beautiful 6 year old twin boys at 27 weeks Nadia knows that support can make such a big difference to parents. She volunteered to be a Parent Representative for the Staffordshire, Shropshire and Black Country (SSBC) Neonatal Operational Delivery Network and Bliss Champion on the Neonatal Unit (NNU) at Russells Hall Hospital.

In her role, she provides vital insight into how parents can be supported better on NNU. Many of her suggestions are welcomed and taken on board, which has improved parent’s experiences significantly. For example, she suggested to the Network that Russsells Hall Hospital should provide free parking to parents who have babies staying on NNU. Her initiative, through the Network, was forwarded to the Chief Executive of the Trust and 20 free passes were provided to parents, helping reduce stress and providing financial support to them when they are off work.

Determined to have parents’ voices heard by decision makers, Nadia attends meetings set up by Maternity Voice Partnership, an NHS working group consisting of women and their families, commissioners, midwives and doctors working together, to contribute to the development of local maternity care. She also participated in ‘Whose shoes’ sessions, organised by Local Maternity Systems (LMS), to share her ideas to improve maternity care for women who have a premature baby.

Recently, Nadia has started a parent support group, called ‘Nadi’s Neonates’, to improve the support available for families with babies on the NNU. Her next plan is to organise regular coffee meetings for NNU parents, so that they can have a safe, private, and relaxing environment to meet other families.

So what motivated Nadia to go the extra mile for other parents? She explains: “I think it is vital to give parents a voice. It is the parents that become the primary carers and they need adequate support before that time to feel confident that they can manage on their own.”