Help Families with a Sick Newborn Baby in Hospital

Having a child with a terminal or life threatening illness is difficult for any family. For most families, parents and friends can help out by giving them a much-needed break or some moral support.

But nobody wanted to look after Vicky and Rick’s sick child.

Vicky’s 22 week scan showed a dark shadow on her unborn baby’s heart. Tests revealed that the baby had heart defects and that he may not even survive birth. After a tense delivery, Samuel was born. He underwent his first open heart surgery at just four days old and his second at four months old.

Samuel's heart conditions mean that he has to be under constant supervision. For this reason, Vicky and Rick have had no time alone together since Samuel was born. None of their friends want to look after him as they are so afraid that something will happen to him while they are away. Friends and family offer to help with the other two children but no one is comfortable taking on the responsibility of looking after Samuel. His health is so fragile and this has meant that the couple are constantly under pressure to keep him calm and healthy.

Rainbow Trust Family Support Worker Sarah now supports Vicky and Rick at home, where she can watch Samuel and give Vicky time with her two daughters, Daisy and Betsy. Sarah stays all day, which is the only break that Vicky has.

“Without Sarah, I’d have no kind of break at all,” says Vicky. Samuel can be up in the night up to 25 times so having Sarah there in the daytime means that Vicky can relax just a little bit during that time.  Having that extra support makes a huge difference to the family’s exhausting routine.

The reality is that without Rainbow Trust, Vicky and Rick’s family would have little or no respite from the constant anguish of keeping their son alive. Sarah’s support gives the family a chance at normal, something that every family we work with desperately cherishes. Thank you for supporting Vicky and Rick through this project.