Our son Joshua, was born at 15:36 on the 11th September 1998 at Epsom General Hospital. The birth was fine until Joshua started to turn a shade of blue, at which point he was rushed into the SCBU at Epsom where he was diagnosed with congenital pneumonia. He started to suffer with severe breathing difficulties and was then taken by transport incubator in an ambulance to St Georges. I don’t recall the journey or the evening as we both appeared to be running on auto pilot as we drove to the hospital. Joshua was immediately looked after by the team at St Georges with proper care and attention for a week. The unit is a scary place when you first encounter it, the constant beeping from the monitors, the smell of cleanliness. It is a daunting prospect for any parent, but we visited daily to tend to our son, watch the nurses take what appeared to be regular files of blood, constantly checking his temperature, whilst we watched and waited patiently for him to recover.

During his stay he had jaundice and was “wired up” to what appeared to be every conceivable electronic device possible. At some point during that week, I was allowed to have our first kangaroo cuddle, a memory I shall never forget. Skin to skin with his tiny arms hanging around me, he rose and fell on my chest as I breathed, he too breathing quietly as he absorbed his fathers smell. The team at St Georges were and still are, fantastic people. Not only attentive to the babies but also to us as parents. Parents too have a torrid time and the gentle word, caress of the hand is much appreciated.

Joshua returned to Epsom after 7 days, where he stayed for another week before being allowed home. We cannot thank both units enough for their help and support of our son who has made a full recovery. I am only too pleased to have been in a fortunate position as a freemason, to make regular donations to both the units and more recently in 2010 to again, as chairman of the South East region of BIBA, to use money raised by the region to support the Neo Natal units of Epsom and St Georges hospitals. Thanks a million! Paul & Helen Smith (Banstead).