Max Berry and neonatal research
One of the three core objectives of The Little Miracles Trust is to aid neonatal-related medical research. Neonatal care is a comparatively fledgling clinical field. We support research so that the care delivered is enhanced and the long term consequences of prematurity are better understood – this for the thousands of babies who will be cared for each year in New Zealand.
Dr Max Berry is leading some wonderful research into the early care of neonatal babies and how these can impact their life beyond the NICU and/or SCBU. A recent Otago University article provides an insight into her work. . .
“We know that the first years of life are incredibly influential. It’s likely that for different organ systems, for different conditions, this is the window of time that makes the biggest difference to an individual’s lifetime trajectory for health and well-being.
“In very early life there is this incredible plasticity – the fetus and baby respond to all sorts of environmental cues and stimuli. For instance, even parental diet and stress levels before conception and during pregnancy have a role to play in determining their baby’s later health and health risks,” Berry says.
“For example, our research suggests that nutrition in the first month of life is likely to be important in setting your diabetes risk later on, whereas gestational age at birth has a powerful influence on cardiovascular disease risk. We also know that there are some really complex interactions linking gestational age, sex, multiple birth and a whole host of other factors that need to be explored further.”
You can read the full article here
Previous articles including Dr Max Berry and/or neonatal research include:
Nimo Studies Update – June 2016
Neonatal Profile Dr Max Berry – May 2016
Research Update Blood Brain Flow Study – February 2016
Neonatal Research Update – March 2015
Over and above research, you can also see other examples of how The Little Miracles Trust helps to support neonatal families here
Thanks so much for sharing your personal story!
We get a lot of positive feedback from families in a neonatal unit who read these stories and feel strength, hope and positivity knowing that they are not alone going through these experiences and feeling certain emotions.
If you would like to discuss sharing the story of your neonatal journey, we’d love to hear from you.
Support Us
If you want to help our support of families going through the stress and anxiety of a neonatal journey, you can donate via the link below.
- The Little Miracles Trust provides support to families of premature or sick full-term babies as they make their journey through Neonatal Intensive Care, the transition home, and onwards. We do not receive any Government funding and are entirely reliant on the generosity of individuals, companies and organisations in the form of donations, value-in-kind donations, grants, sponsorship and fundraising events to supplement operating costs and fund our services and initiatives.
- As we are a registered charity (CC56619) with Charities Services New Zealand we will send you an IRD compliant tax receipt – this will happen automatically by return email.