Neonatal healthcare professionals announced as WaterWipes Pure Foundation Fund 2023 UK winners

This year’s Pure Foundation Fund winners are Julia Cooper from Ipswich, and June Adams from Rotherham, who received a generous bursary of £5,000 each for their departments to continue to improve the care of parents and babies.

WaterWipes® encouraged parents and healthcare professionals to nominate individuals who played crucial roles in pregnancy, birth, neonatal and postnatal care and made a difference in the lives of parents and babies in the UK and Ireland. They received 395 nominations for this year’s Pure Foundation Fund.

The worthy winners were selected by an expert panel including Caroline Lee-Davey, Chief Executive of Bliss, and Cheryl Titherly, Manager of the Neonatal Nurses Association.

Caroline Lee-Davey, said: "I am delighted to have been a part of this year's Pure Foundation Fund to celebrate the work of incredible healthcare professionals. It is particularly wonderful to see two neonatal healthcare professionals recognised for their achievements and hard work - many congratulations to Julia and June."

Julia Cooper, a Neonatal Lead Care Coordinator from Ipswich, was nominated following a dedicated career of over 30 years in neonatal nursing. She was nominated by a colleague, Julia Petty, who praised Julia for demonstrating “excellent collaborative leadership of her team/ODN colleagues in relation to implementing various initiatives” that have made a real difference to the support of parents. Julia Petty further commended Julia for going above and beyond in her role, and remarks that this is a key contributing factor to enhancing the experience of the parents she looks after.

Julia said of her win: “I was thrilled and privileged to be nominated and recognised for my work. My passion throughout my career has been to make the experience of families receiving neonatal care the best it can be. Working for the East of England Neonatal Operational Delivery Network team gives me the opportunity to identify and address some of the inequities across the region and nationally through the work with the National Care Coordinator Group.

"This bursary will help to further promote family integrated care within the neonatal community, and a wider audience, by facilitating myself and team, to hold listening events for parents/carers and families to let the ODN team hear what it feels like being in neonatal services in the East of England. The bursary will help fund accessible venues that are family friendly and inviting for these events to take place. The feedback will help shape future innovation through identifying themes to guide work-streams for the teams.”

June Adams, a Nurse Team Leader from Rotherham was nominated by Gemma Woolley, a mother of two who spent three months in June’s care following the birth of her second child at 26 weeks. Gemma shared that June was their “biggest support and champion”, encouraging her to look after herself, providing excellent support for her husband, and helping her son bond with his little sister during a very difficult time.

June said of her win: “When I found out that I had been chosen to receive the WaterWipes® prize fund following a nomination by one of our previous families I was shocked and humbled. As a neonatal nurse who has worked on the Rotherham special care baby unit for the past 15 ½ years, I am constantly inspired by the strength of the babies and families we take care of.

"Our SCBU is currently undergoing a full renovation so the money will be used to help furnish the parent's bedrooms which we use for families when they are preparing for home, for families when their baby is really sick, for mummies establishing breastfeeding and for families whose babies have come to us from out of area. The money will help furnish these rooms and ensure their stay is as comfortable as possible and a home away from home.”

Brogan Chesters, Brand Marketing Manager at WaterWipes® said: “This year’s Pure Foundation Fund nominations have been some of our most inspiring yet, reminding us of the pivotal support that maternal, neonatal and postnatal healthcare professionals give to families in the UK and Ireland. They truly are our ‘Great Protectors’ and WaterWipes® are delighted to support the further improvement of care with the award of this year’s bursary funds."