Epsom Hospital celebrated the lives of premature babies last week as they marked World Prematurity Day.

Grateful Parents, fundraising volunteers and Epsom and St Helier staff, who have raised £25,000 in the last year alone, gathered to mark the day in the Neonatal Unit at St Helier Hospital, which provides intensive and specialised care to babies who are born from as early as 26 weeks.

There are 60,000 premature babies born each year in the UK and around 80,000 babies are born each year needing specialist hospital care – this is 1 in 9 babies.

Andrew Reece said he, his wife Sneshka and “perfect” one-year-old Sienna would have been “lost” without out the care they had received.

He said: “World Prematurity Day is vital in raising awareness of ill babies.

“Sienna was supposed to be born on January 20, 2016, but was born on November 11, 2015.

“Having a premature baby is really scary and at the time we only had on National Childbirth Trust class- but the care we received was amazing.

“The staff just scooped us up and really looked after us. We would have been lost without them.”

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Sneshka and Andrew Reece with their daughter Sienna

Chief Executive Daniel Elkeles spoke of his pride of the “phenomenal” work carried out at the unit.

He said: “Each year, our units care for hundreds of babies, with some of our smallest patients weighing as little as 500 grams (equivalent to just two blocks of butter).

“Having to go through that as a new parent is understandably very distressing, but our teams of expert, compassionate staff truly make a difference to families in these situations.”

For more information about how you can support our hospitals and volunteer with us, please visit https://www.epsom-sthelier.nhs.uk/volunteering-opportunities