When Olivia Agnew was born on 23rd October at 24 weeks, 5 days gestation, her mum, Amy, wanted nothing more than to hold her newborn baby but Olivia was too fragile to be held.  Amy didn’t get to experience her first kangaroo (skin to skin) cuddle until a week later, the moment precious.   Whilst it feels like a mammoth effort to get everything set up for a kangaroo cuddle, the effort is worth every second “It was nice to have that bond with her again,” said Amy. “That was really special, just having that skin close.”

Olivia was born after an emergency C-section.  Dad, Jason Agnew, was lucky enough to be able to cut the cord before Olivia was whisked off in an incubator to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and when they took him to see her, he wasn’t sure she was out of the woods.  “she was wrapped in plastic, she looked pretty lifeless and was doing nothing,” he said. “It was pretty traumatic actually, she was really small.”

Amy said it was hard having to put all your faith in the medical team and equipment, but she was grateful a service, like the NICU existed.

Olivia and her family have a long journey ahead of them, whilst she is doing well, she is not expected to come home until her due date of 7th February 2017. 

“It’s not a situation, I would wish upon anyone, it’s a long, tough lonely journey.”

Read the full article and watch this very special video clip here