Support families

We offer emotional and practical support to empower families and equip them with the knowledge and skills they need to provide the best possible care to their baby, for however long they live and for however long their stay in neonatal care.

We provide information about caring for premature and full term sick babies at every stage of their hospital journey, and after they have gone home.

Through our network of dedicated volunteers we provide face-to-face and email support, meaning families have access to practical information and a listening ear when they need it the most.

Families can also read other family stories on our website and listen to audio stories on Spotify.

Georgia Melbourne, mum to Scarlett, born at 28 weeks, says: "One day I saw a Bliss leaflet and it was like a light had suddenly been switched on and all of a sudden I wasn’t alone any more.

"I went to the Bliss website and read through stories from other parents and found out about the various terms I’d heard on the unit.

"After reading through everything I suddenly had the confidence to ask the doctors questions and understand what was really happening. I started asking to hold Scarlett, rather than waiting for nurses to offer. I helped to tube feed her and I even gave Scarlett her first bath."

Over the next three years we will support families by:

• Developing information on the subjects they tell us will most help them to be actively involved in their babies’ care
• Facilitating the provision of emotional support through both our volunteer-delivered services and online peer communities
• Continuing to focus on reducing the barriers that prevent many parents from being actively involved in their baby’s care on the neonatal unit, including insufficient parent accommodation, facilities and support
  
• Working with partner charities to promote the delivery of high quality bereavement care and support for parents in making decisions at the end of their baby’s life.