United Arab Emirates | Medcare Women and Children Hospital

To celebrate World Prematurity Day this year, WaterWipes in the United Arab Emirates are collaborating with Medcare Women and Children Hospital in Dubai, a specialized premium private hospital, offering a state of the art Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

For the second consecutive year, WaterWipes and Medcare together will celebrate parents whose children were born prematurely in the hospital and have now grown and gone through the many milestones in their lives – the little NICU Graduates as they are fondly called. Although this year’s session will be held remotely WaterWipes & Medcare have prepared special goodie bags for the parents and their little ones. Parents whose babies are currently in the NICU will also take part in this activity and receive the cutest brand goodies.

With over 40 parents taking part in this activity, WaterWipes along with the hospital continues to provide an important platform for parents with NICU babies to receive the reassurance and inspiration they need from parents who have gone through a similar experience.

USA

Miracle Babies is a non-profit organisation that supports families with babies in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) by transporting them to and from the NICU and providing care packages containing essential items and resources to aid and comfort them during their baby’s time in the NICU. WaterWipes support includes funding 1,000 NICU care package drops to eleven hospitals in the southern California area.

High Risk Hope is an organisation in Florida that provides support, encouragement, information and resources to families experiencing a high-risk pregnancy or who have given birth prematurely. For the month of November, WaterWipes is sponsoring the NICU bedrest baskets and care packages for four hospitals in Tampa, Florida. The care packages will go to families currently in the NICU and the bedrest baskets will go to mothers currently on bedrest in hospital due to high risk pregnancies.

Project NICU is an organisation led by other NICU parents that offers connection and support to all those involved in the care of premature babies. This includes peer support for healthcare professionals working on the NICU, as well as care packages and events for parents. WaterWipes is honoured to be sponsoring all the activities that Project NICU are hosting this November, including the 30 Days of Hope campaign, the virtual NICU graduate events, and Facebook and Instagram takeovers. We are also donating to Project NICU’s Hospital Fund, to help support families currently in the NICU.

Project NICU will also be mailing “Pins of Hope” to anyone who requests one and encouraging everyone to wear these pins on World Prematurity Day. Anyone who does and uses the event hashtag #PinOfHope will be entered into a competition to win a six-month supply of WaterWipes.

WaterWipes has also continued its partnership with Project Sweet Peas, a non-profit organisation coordinated by volunteers, that seeks to promote a family-centered care approach across hospitals nationwide. This year, we will be donating to their Food and Fuel Assistance Fund, which provides gift cards to NICU families who need financial assistance. A WaterWipes team will also participate in Project Sweet Pea’s 5K Your Way, to raise further funds for those requiring financial support.

Australia and New Zealand

In Australia and New Zealand, WaterWipes is supporting theMiracle Babies Foundation and the Neonatal Trust. The Miracle Babies Foundation is Australia’s leading organisation supporting premature and sick newborns, their families and the hospitals that care for them. Their ‘Light it Purple’ World Prematurity Day 2020 campaign encourages buildings to be lit purple to raise awareness of premature babies across the world. We will be ‘lighting’ our social media platforms purple to show our full support and providing WaterWipes samples for the ‘survival packs’ that go to families in the NICU. The WaterWipes HQ in Drogheda, Ireland has also been lit purple in support.

Care packages will also be provided for the Neonatal Trust, a charity which operates across New Zealand and works closely with 23 neonatal units to support the families and babies they care for.

UK

In the UK, WaterWipes is partnering with Bliss, a leading charity that supports both NICU families and neonatal healthcare professionals to help ensure premature babies receive high-quality care. We are working with Bliss to sponsor and distribute their ‘Baby Milestone Cards’ that have been designed to celebrate the achievements and milestones babies meet within the NICU and at home. This includes their first feed, first cuddle and first nappy change.

Earlier in the year, WaterWipes and Bliss also launched the ‘About Neonatal Care’ guide to provide parents who have just arrived on the NICU with essential information on neonatal care, including how the unit and the equipment within it works. To order this guide and the milestones cards, or direct parents to these free resources, use the Bliss information and support page.

Poland

In Poland, WaterWipes have donated care packages to the St. Families, St. Zofia and Duchess Anna Mazowiecka hospitals. These packs included samples of WaterWipes which parents have been using to gently cleanse their delicate newborn’s skin.

For any healthcare professionals interested in learning more about how they can support NICU families and best care for premature babies’ delicate skin, WaterWipes is hosting a webinar on 17th November. Entitled "Little heroes - do we know what premature babies really have to face?", pediatrics and neonatology specialist Dr Anna Dobrzyniecka and midwife Emilia Jaśniewska will be discussing how healthcare professionals can best care for premature babies.

Ireland

In Ireland, WaterWipes is continuing to support the Irish Neonatal Health Alliance, a collaborative network comprising families affected by a preterm birth, multi-disciplinary healthcare experts, educators, researchers and political decision makers who all share the goal of reducing incidences of preterm births supporting NICU families and infants.

This World Prematurity Day, we are sponsoring the organisation’s pledge cards which friends and family can gift to parents to pledge their support for them. For example, by pledging to help with housework or support them with childcare whilst they are in the NICU.

France

In France, we are pleased to be supporting the #VraieViedeParents campaign by doing a live Q&A with influencerRofrane Bambara and a childcare nurse from the maternity hospital Armand Brillard.

Both will answer common questions relating to neonatal care and Rofrane will share her experiences of giving birth prematurely. To take part, head to the WaterWipes France Instagram channel on the 17th November.

We are also partnering with Parole de Mamans to share parent testimonies and healthcare professional top tips for neonatal skin care, and why WaterWipes is great to use on premature babies’ delicate skin.

WaterWipes have been specifically developed to be so mild and gentle that they can be used on premature babies’ delicate skin. They are made with just two ingredients; 99.9% high purity water and a drop of fruit extract, and have recently been validated by the Skin Health Alliance as being purer than cotton wool and water.