NUMB Meetings:
Regular NUMB meetings are held on the first Wednesday evening of each month
– 7.30pm at Parents Place, 87 Boundary Rd, Hamilton. All welcome at
these meetings. Thanks to the NZ College of Midwives (Waikato) for arranging
our use of these rooms free of charge.
Mum Runs for Prems:
Rebecca knows she will succeed in running a marathon, even though she has
never participated in one before. Why? Two of Rebecca’s children were
born extremely prematurely and spent months in a neonatal intensive care
unit (NICU). Rebecca found this experience not only physically exhausting
but also emotionally draining and a real test of endurance for her and her
babies. Having survived this experience Rebecca believes that a simple
physical challenge like a marathon shouldn’t pose her any problems.
When Rebecca first decided to run a marathon she set about finding a charity
to support and discovered NUMB on the internet. NUMB stands for Neonatal
Unity for Mothers & Babies. NUMB is campaigning for mothers to have the
option of ‘rooming in’ with their sick or premature babies for as much of
their baby’s stay as they see fit. Currently the more common scenario sees
new mothers discharged home, or to a nearby hostel as early as 48 hours post
delivery and thereafter relegated to the status of ‘visitor’. NUMB believes
that mothers and babies should not be separated and unlimited Kangaroo
Mother Care (KMC) should be seen as an integral, vital component of NICU
support alongside the technology.
Rebecca who is from Taihape struggled with being separated from her babies
in the NICU environment and is thrilled to be raising sponsorship money to
support NUMB. She is running in the Auckland half marathon on the 29th
of October. Sponsorship details are
available here and donations can be sent to NUMB at:
P.O Box 10495, Hamilton, or to pay electronically please
contact us
Rebecca’s Son Thomas born
at 26 weeks, having skin-to-skin cuddles (KMC) with his Mum
