In 2010 my world was turned upside down and inside out when my son Harry decided to arrive at 26 weeks gestation.
It was a tough time for my partner Chris and I. Harry needed bowel surgery, and I had to spend my first Mother’s Day in the local children’s hospital.
On the day I received a small bunch of flowers and a card, which meant so much at a time when I was so stressed and didn’t even leave the hospital.
After my son came home we attended a neonatal baby support group, and when he was two, I decided to volunteer at the group, so I could help other parents who had been through their own neonatal journey.
In my role as a volunteer I also began to provide support on the unit, when parents are going through the most difficult times. Being able to offer them anything from a listening ear to practical information is so helpful to parents in that situation.
One day I saw a lady called Misty post a tutorial on her Facebook page, Makey Mamas, describing how to make crochet hearts. Knowing how much it had meant to me receiving a little gift on Mother’s Day, I got in touch with her. She agreed to see if we could get 34 hearts made by her network of Makey Mamas, enough to give one to each mum on the local unit.
Credit: Makey Mamas
Amazingly, we received a wonderful 285 crocheted or knitted hearts. These were sent to mums across the South West neonatal network. They were very well received, with people remarking on how they could tell the hearts had been made with love. We decided to repeat the project again this year, and are now in the process of distributing an astounding 1810 beautiful hearts.
As a Bliss volunteer, it is a real privilege to do little things like this for mums on their special day. These hearts are a keepsake they can treasure forever.
For updates on the hearts project, or more information about Makey Mamas, please visit their Facebook page here.
Credit: Makey Mamas