Inspired by her own experience, Tarneit resident Sarah Hetherton volunteers at Sunshine Hospital to help the parents of premature and sick babies.
Mrs Hetherton is the mother of nine-year-old Sebastian and seven-year-old Mackenzie.
Mrs Hetherton said that a “very tiny” Mackenzie was born eight weeks early and spent 28 days in hospital.
“When she came home, she could fit into doll’s clothes,” Mrs Hetherton said.
Luckily, Mackenzie is now a “very energetic and switched-on child”.
It was after Mackenzie was born, while searching for information on support for families of prematurely-born youngsters, that Mrs Hetherton found out about the Life’s Little Treasures Foundation.
The charity supports the families of babies who are born ill or before 37 weeks’ gestation.
Mrs Hetherton started volunteering for the foundation and now runs monthly morning teas in a room near Sunshine Hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).
Since the pandemic hit, she been doing the morning teas on a virtual basis, through online video platforms and social media.
Mrs Hetherton said parents could chat and ask questions during the ‘NICU Connections’ morning teas, and also receive resource packs from Life’s Little Treasures.
“Providing emotional support is also a very big factor, sometimes they just want someone to cry with,” she said.
“To be able to offer parents and families some support, to know we can do that without them worrying about where to find it – to provide that support, is very rewarding.”
Mrs Hetherton, along with Mackenzie, Sebastian and her husband Simon, has participated in several Walk for the Prems in recent years.
The event, which takes place across Australia, is the Life’s Little Treasures Foundation’s largest annual fundraising event.
“What I enjoy on the day, is just being amongst the community – you know you’ve been through a similar thing and you’re doing something together,” Mrs Hetherton said.
This year the foundation is encouraging people to participate in Walk for the Prems, by following a five-kilometre route of their choosing on Sunday.
The foundation will also host online activities, competitions and speeches on the day. Registerations: walkforprems.org.au.
