‘Milestone Card’ initiative helps support families of over 4,500 premature babies

A wonderful idea.

Thousands of premature babies are born in Ireland every year, some needing a lot of support to get them through those first few weeks. The Irish Neonatal Health Alliance aims to help as many premature babies and their families as possible and one way that they do this is through their Milestone Cards. The Milestone Card initiative supports the families of over 4,500 premature babies born in Ireland each year and allows parents to chart their baby’s progress celebrating each precious milestone. These specially designed cards sponsored by WaterWipes help parents to focus on the progress that their babies are making. Each small milestone reached is not only significant in their development but is also a huge boost for parents providing them with something really positive to focus on. Almost 4,500 babies are born prematurely in Ireland every year and approximately 15 million babies are born preterm globally, accounting for about one in 10 of all babies born worldwide. Mandy Daly, Irish Neonatal Health Alliance, (INHA) Health Director of Advocacy & Policy Making, said:

"The INHA’s vision is to support families affected by prematurity by advocating for increased awareness, empowering families and improving long term care for both the premature baby and family. The charity was established and has grown out of the experiences of such parents and their desire to provide more support to other parents taking the same journey. Many parents of premature babies have remarked that it is often the most simplest things that give the greatest joy and it is through WaterWipes’ support and understanding we were able to create these special and empowering ‘Milestone Cards"

These Milestone Cards are available complimentary to parents in Neonatal Intensive Care Units across the country or at INHA.ie.