by Sarah Poole – Neonatal Nurse, William Harvey Hospital

“The inspiration for this room was to create a safe, relaxing space that will enable mothers to relax during what is often a very stressful and challenging time. Milk production is reliant on hormones, one makes milk, one releases milk, and when mum is anxious theses hormones are negatively affected.  Our hope is that our fragile and vulnerable babies will have access to adequate breast milk during their stay with us and eventually be discharged home breastfeeding.

I love how the room has turned out, mums have already been commenting how relaxed they feel in there.  We also use the room to teach effective hand expression. With the low lighting, comfortable seats, inspiring photos of babies that have been through our unit, and calming atmosphere, we have definitely noticed a positive difference with those all important drops of colostrum.

We can’t thank you, and all those involved in this fundraising enough.  In addition to the room the extra breast pumps are enabling more mothers to express milk at the cot side. The room has almost become a ‘breast milk in training’ room, where mums are gaining confidence in what their bodies really are capable of, and once that confidence is gained they feel empowered to continue their journey alongside their baby..

Love it, absolutely Love it…”