I would stroke his head or face and speak reassuringly to him. It didn’t matter how painful it was for me to watch or hear, he needed me and that’s what was important to me.
I wanted to be hands on but often felt I was in the way during doctor's rounds. Parents were removed from the unit... Procedures often took place without my knowledge.
I remember with our son’s lumbar punctures, the language was... ‘He'll forget it, but you'll be scarred for life watching it’... what do you say to that? I thought, ‘I'm not welcome.'
In this video mothers Yasmeen, Sobia, Muriam and Zarina share their experiences of having a baby on the neonatal unit.
The information in this section is due for review November 2026