This is the final One in Ten podcast for the Miracle Month of May! And what an episode we have for you. I got to spend time talking to the phenomenal Alana Cumberpatch who is the Lactation Consultant in the Waikato NICU, a unit that looks after over 1000 whānau each year. Right from when we started our podcast I really wanted us to interview a Lactation Consultant as I know that this is probably one of if not the biggest topic within a NICU or SCBU experience.

Alana talks to us about kangaroo care, colostrum, hand expressing, expressing with a pump, feeding and most importantly being kind to yourself. You can hear how passionate Alana is about her role and I have no doubt that her compassion for and commitment to families has made a significant difference to many who have had the fortune to have Alana at their side.

I must add a side note that we forgot to mention that when it comes to expressing using a breastpump, that double pumping is advised as this can help supply volume plus it reduces the time spent expressing.

That brings our Miracle Month of May pod series to an end but do subscribe and follow to find out when we’re back or get in touch with us to let us know what you would like to hear about next.

In this special episode for the Miracle Month of May, I caught up with Elen Nathan who is an Occupational Therapist with over 20 years experience working with children who have diverse needs, she is the Owner/Director of Napier based The Playful Place and ex-NICU Mum to Oscar born at 29 weeks.

There was so much to fit in to this conversation that we honestly could have talked for hours, during our time together we cover a range of topics from the impact of an early birth and time in NICU, what whānau can do for their little ones development, the first year of life through to going to school. Elen is such an expert in her field and I guarantee that after listening to this that you will just want to hear more from her.

As always it’s such an honour to spend time with Elen, I always learn so much during our conversations. And as the topic of development has so much depth and breadth we hope that we’ll be able to bring more specific topic based episodes with Elen to you in the future.

I hope you’ve enjoyed listening to our latest podcast, if so we’d love to hear from you. Feel free to leave a comment, a question or even a suggestion about other topics you would like us to cover and of course don’t forget to follow us on Spotify so that you’re the first to know when our new episodes drop.

Welcome back to the One in Ten podcast produced by the Little Miracles Trust named especially for the one in ten babies in Aotearoa New Zealand who will spend time in either an intensive care or special care baby unit.

Ok so it’s been a minute and 2024 has certainly got away with us – so to kick things off we wanted to celebrate the Miracle Month of May by chatting with some experts that can be a part of the experience of a neonatal journey.

First off I caught up with the amazing Kate Hicks who is the Founder and CEO of Birth Trauma Aotearoa, a not-for-profit that champions the prevention of birth trauma along with improvements in support following birth trauma.

Kate and I talked through how Birth Trauma Aotearoa came about, the changes that have happened since, the work still to be done and most importantly where you can go to if you want to seek out help.

Huge thanks to Kate for taking the time to talk with me, all the work that Kate does in this field is voluntary and fuelled by her passion for ensuring that positive change comes about for now and into the future.

We hope you’ve enjoyed listening to our latest podcast, if so we’d love to hear from you. Feel free to leave a comment, a question or even a suggestion about other topics you would like us to cover.

Birth Trauma Aotearoa

www.littlemiraclestrust.org.nz

Cover for maternal birth injuries (acc.co.nz)

During this episode we talked to the lovely Donna Smith based in Otepoti Dunedin. Donna’s life was wrapped up in the neonatal world before she became a Mum to Jack and Ben as she worked as part of the Middlemore team in the NICU/SCBU and homecare team as a Physiotherapist.

Little did Donna know that her links to the neonatal world were going to become more entwined with her life as it went on. As you’ll hear from our chat, Donna experienced both Auckland and Dunedin NICUs with each of her boys, and having attended our community playgroup with Jack in Auckland Donna felt passionate about starting one in Dunedin even before Ben was born which she still does with great enthusiasm. If that wasn’t enough Donna has recently run the Queenstown marathon as a fundraiser for the Trust, citing our pod as her key training companion. And now that the running is done, she’s embarked on a whole new marathon by taking on her Masters with a focus on baby wearing from premature babies! As you’ll hear Donna is so passionate in the space of neonates from both a personal and a professional perspective.  

This is our last episode for 2023 but we’ll be back in 2024 with more interviews, so if there is anything you’d like us to cover or people you’d like to hear from do get in touch with us. We hope you’ve enjoyed the first seasons of the ‘One in Ten’ podcast, please follow us on your favourite podcast platfom so that you know when our episodes drop, give us a five star rating, leave us some feedback or let us know what else you’d like to hear about from the Trust. Many thanks until 2024, stay safe and have a wonderful holiday season. 

This week's episode we spoke with Liesje Lockhead based in New Plymouth, who had her twin girls, Georgia and Piper, at 27 weeks and 6 days gestation in Wellington City Hospital. 

Leisje openly shared the journey that she and her husband, Trent, went through to conceive all three of their children which due to a medical condition meant they had to tread the path of IVF to complete their family.  At their 7 week scan, they found out that they were having twins who were closely monitored due to them sharing a placenta and at around 18 weeks they discovered that the placement of the girls umbilical cords into the placenta meant that one twin was receiving more nourishment than the other, and that’s where their NICU story begins. 

Thank you so much to Liesje for taking time to chat with us, especially given how precious time is when you’ve got three young children to look after! Their story was so fascinating to hear – from the journey through IVF and being successful with both rounds, a full term birth for their first born, to finding out they were having identical twin girls in their second pregnancy and then the potential of having to make hard decisions about the survival of their little ones in utero and ending up away from home for four long months. Thankfully the outcome for this beautiful family has been a very happy one and they’ve celebrated their first year as a family of five. 

We hope you’re loving the ‘One in Ten’ podcast as much as us.  If so, please follow us on your favourite podcast platfom so that you know when our episodes drop, give us a five star rating, leave us some feedback or let us know what else you’d like to hear about from the Trust.

This week we spoke to Karen who hails originally from Ireland but very much calls our capital city home.  Karen shared with me her experience of having her son Cooper at 33 weeks due to a very sudden onset of pre-eclampsia and thanks to a colleague calling out her concerns for Karen meant that Karen consulted her midwife and thankfully got herself to Wellington Regional Hospital in time to ensure that both she and her baby were safe. . 

Thanks to Karen for highlighting some of the key signs to look out for with pre-eclampsia, how quickly things can change and not being afraid to check in if things don’t seem right.  Which again played out with Cooper needing to go back into NICU for a short time after they’d been discharged as Karen very much had that instinct that things weren’t quite right.

This week we spoke to Pip Kelleher, Mum to 4yr old Elsie who was born at 24 plus 5 weighing 465 grams at Wellington NICU, and to Mabel born 7 months ago at 36 weeks' gestation, who despite being born almost at full term had her own journey to follow through Palmerston North SCBU. However it’s not just her girls story that Pip touches on in this episode but also her fertility journey – having suffered for years with debilitating periods that could see her end up in hospital, through to conception via IVF. Through this Pip openly brings another lens to our podcast series.  

Two years after Elsie was born, Pip wrote about their experience in detail and this can be found on our website by clicking the following link

⁠Elsie’s Story | Little Miracles Trust⁠ Thank you so much to Pip for being so open about her fertility struggles and neonatal experience plus her advice around becoming your own and your babies advocate, even when it’s not something you’re overly comfortable with. As you can hear from the episode, Pip is someone who emanates positivity even through the toughest times. We’ve had the joy of getting to know Pip over the last four years and am sure she’ll stay a part of our Little Miracles whanau for many more to come.  

We hope you’re loving the ‘One in Ten’ podcast as much as we are producing it.  If so, please follow us on your streaming platform so you know when our episodes drop, give us a five star rating as this means others will hear about us, take a screenshot and share our info on your socials or share in any groups you think would love to hear our stories that way we can reach more and more whānau and spread the awareness and support.