This post is for week 25 of The Gallery. This weeks prompt is One Day in August. The prompt is in honour of three parent bloggers, Josie, Sian and Eva who are flying out to Bangladesh to raise awareness of the work Save the Children are doing to improve the lives of millions of children in this poverty-stricken region. They flew to Bangladesh on Sunday 29th August.
For this prompt, we were required to take a photograph on this same day. The photograph can be of anything, it just had to be taken on this day. I imagined photographs of children in the garden, maybe a picnic in the park. Unfortunately, I had to work on Sunday 29th August and I was there from 7.30 in the morning until 20.00 so I had little choice but to take a photograph at work, as it's already dark when I get home.
I don't really discuss what I do for a living on this blog, or on Twitter (no, I'm not an MI5 agent). It's not top-secret, it's just that I don't feel that it's appropriate and I have to be careful what I say so that I don't breach my professional Code of Conduct or confidentiality.
I am a Neonatal Nurse. If you're not familiar with that term, it means that I work on a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and I look after very sick and/or premature babies. It's a misconception that we only look after premature babies. Term babies get sick too. I would have loved to have taken a photograph of one of our tiniest patients, maybe even just a tiny foot, but I need permission to do that.
This is a Resusitaire. This is the first piece of life saving equipment a baby who is unwell at birth or preterm will come into contact with. Those of you who have had a hospital birth may recognise it, as one resides in the corner of every delivery room in this country. It serves as a platform for staff (hopefully a Neonatal team) to place a newborn and assess and administer life support (if necessary). In the unit where I work, we also use it to transfer the baby up to the Neonatal Unit.
Sunday 29th August was a busy day. We had two admissions arrive simultaneously. I took this photograph after one of the babies (born at 29 weeks) had been safely settled onto the unit. Believe it or not, the plastic bag is an excellent insulator. These resustitaires cost somewhere in the region of £20,000 pounds each. It's very unlikely that hospitals in Bangladesh have equipment like this, especially not in every delivery room. I very much doubt that babies born at 29 weeks in Bangladesh even survive.
People complain about the NHS, but we really are very lucky to have access to such a good standard of healthcare in this country.
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My third son required one of these when he was born. I will be forever grateful for it.
ReplyDeleteMy second son is very poorly and I am so incredibly thankful for the NHS and all the care he receives. I just don't understand how people can moan about the NHS particularly when so many countries in the world have such inadequate healthcare.
Great post and a very sobering reminder of why the Blogladesh trip is so important. x
Wow, fantastic post. An awesome job you do lady and I am full of admiration. I know this is an emotionally draining job, my late and favourite aunt was a midwife for 40 years and had all the highs and lows that entails.
ReplyDeleteI also love the theme of the blog with people like Josie, Sian and Eva taking their time to raise this awareness. Please send me their links so I can check them out:)
Lots of love,
Lesley (@lesleyalmost)
Reading this has made me get all teary. I think we all need a reality check and tend to take too much for granted.
ReplyDeleteBrilliant post!
I think you do such an amazing job.
ReplyDeleteI remember coming round when another contraction hit me and suddenly seeing that huge piece of equipment and another doctor stood by it. It shocked me into trying so much harder, but we needed a little help. Your comment there about term babies also getting sick is so true. Although Piran was fine when he was born about 7 hours later he was taken to the SCBU where he spent the next five days. He was 14 days overdue and a 10lb lump and I felt so strange looking at my huge baby next to his teenie tiny neighbours. We were lucky and we got to take him home so quickly in comparison to some of the people we met there. It was an overwhelming experience, I think you are truly amazing to do that every week.
A great choice of photo to link with this week's theme - much for us all to think about.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for taking this photo NP. Really do appreciate it and I think it's a perfect picture for the subject matter.
ReplyDeleteAs I've said before, you really are the bees knees x
BRILLIANT PHOTO. My mum works on the NICU at Birmingham City Hospital, has done for nearly 30 years, so this is VERY familiar to me. I have much respect for you having seen - too much? ...no. I don't think so. In fact, from as early as I can remember, my mom showed me pics of babies no longer than a pen; I would go and visit, watch them grow and survive. And my heart still aches when she (rarely) tells me they lost a baby. Yet like you say, it's more rare for such a tiny baby to survive in Bangladesh.
ReplyDeleteTHIS is the kind of awareness we need out there.
WELL DONE, great post.
xx
What a fantastic post. I am bowing my head in respect to you Lady. Must have been tough to share this in such detail, but how appropriate given this week's theme. Wonderful - thank you for sharing xx
ReplyDeleteVery very relevant, so true, we forget how lucky we are. I did a little stint in an NICU a long time ago- forever etched on my mind.....great worthwhile job. My third ended up in NICU at 10lbs!! She looked so odd compared to the teeny tiny babies. X
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing post, you have sent shivers through me and that is a good thing as it reminds me just how completely lukcy we are in the UK. Thanks Mich x
ReplyDeleteFantastic post. Really inspiring. You do a brilliant job and this was a great link.
ReplyDeleteI feel humbled, thank you xx
ReplyDeleteGreat post and you do an amazing job x
ReplyDeleteBoth my girls spent time on a new-natal ward when they were born. Stops me in my tracks to think how differently their start in life would have been without the NHS. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this. We've all got instances of how the NHS saved us. However much people slag it off (or moan about its peculiarities when working in it - my OH is NHS employee too!), it is an amazing phenomenon and we are so lucky to have it.
ReplyDeleteGreat post. Thanks again.
That is so true, we should stop complaining and realise what we have, how lucky we are here!
ReplyDeleteMy baby is 6 weeks and spent the 1st week of his life is neo-natal. First 4 days in intensive care so that picture is familiar and made me say a special thank you today. You neo-natal nurses are very special people xx
ReplyDeleteInspirational and humbling...absolutely spot on for this week's theme. Thank you. xx
ReplyDeleteWow! What an amazing job you have! I had no idea. It must be very fulfilling whilst sad and happy at the same time. It fits in so well with this weeks theme. Well done you :-)
ReplyDeleteXx
Perfect for this weeks theme, so glad that baby is ok:) Jen
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