Foyle MP Mark Durkan has expressed concern about the crippling financial costs being experienced by parents of premature and new-born sick babies in Derry.
The SDLP representative is supporting a new campaign organised by Bliss, the special care baby charity which provides support to families of babies born premature and sick.
The campaign launch coincided with the release of the group’s report, ‘It’s not a game: the very real costs of having a premature or sick baby” which is based on a survey of over 1,300 parents and 178 hospitals in England, Scotland and Wales.
The report found that:
:: Parents of a baby admitted to neonatal care face extra costs amounting to £2,256 during their baby’s stay in hospital, averaging £282 per week.
:: Costs such as paying for food and drinks averaged £53 a week, while parents faced travel costs including petrol and parking averaging over £100 per week.
:: Three quarters of parents reported that their household finances worsened as a result, while one in five couldn’t afford to pay bills such as their rent or mortgage.
:: Alongside the financial burden is the cost to parent’s health, with almost two thirds of parents reporting that their mental health had worsened as a result of the extra pressure.
Foyle SDLP MP Mark Durkan.
Separate research is now being carried out to find out more about the costs experienced by parents in Northern Ireland.
Bliss wants more to be done to help families who face these issues and wants parents travelling more than 20 miles to see their baby in hospital to have their costs reimbursed.
Bliss also believes that they should also have access to free parking and accommodation so they can be near their baby at this very worrying time, as well as meals provided and access to childcare at the hospital.
Mr Durkan said he was “delighted” to support “this important campaign” aimed at ensuring all babies born premature or sick and their families got the “vital support” they needed.
He added: “With one in nine babies in Derry and throughout the North admitted to specialist hospital care each year, it is essential that we help families to concentrate on their babies instead of worrying about finances.”
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