Catherine Allcott from Norton, Northamptonshire met Chris Heaton-Harris MP at a parliamentary reception to launch a campaign calling for more financial help for families who have premature and sick babies in hospital. The campaign and reception were organised by Bliss, the special care baby charity, which provides support to families of babies born premature and sick across the UK.
Bliss’ campaign has been launched with the release of a report called ‘It’s not a game: the very real costs of having a premature or sick baby’, whichis based on a survey of over 1300 parents and 178 hospitals in England, Scotland and Wales. The report found that:
- Parents of a baby admitted to neonatal care face extra costs amounting to £2,256 during their baby’s stay in hospital, averaging £282 per week.
- Costs such as paying for food and drinks averaged £53 a week, while parents faced travel costs including petrol and parking averaging over £100 per week
- Three quarters of parents reported that their household finances worsened as a result, while one in five couldn’t afford to pay bills such as their rent or mortgage.
- The average stay in neonatal care was eight weeks. However, one in four babies and families faced 12 or more weeks in hospital and five percent faced a stay of over 20 weeks.
- Alongside the financial burden is the cost to parent’s health, with almost two thirds of parents reporting that their mental health had worsened as a result of the extra pressure.
Bliss wants more to be done to help families who face these issues and wants parents travelling more than 20 miles to see their baby in hospital to have their costs reimbursed. Bliss also believes that they should also have access to free parking and accommodation so they can be near their baby at this very worrying time, as well as meals provided and access to childcare at the hospital.
Chris Heaton-Harris MP commented: ‘It was a pleasure to attend the launch of Bliss’ latest campaign and meet with Catherine. I have long supported Catherine and her work with Bliss and this report raises important issues around the extra help parents of premature and sick babies need.’