On 19th September 2011, Paula Smith, from East Cowes on the Isle of Wight, gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Amelia.
Due to complications, Paula had the agony of seeing her baby moved to the hospitals neonatal Intensive care unit (NICU). But, instead of allowing this awful situation break her, she came up with a plan to help new babies, new parents and nursing staff too.
During Amelia's stay in N.I.C.U, when all she wanted to do was hold and comfort her baby, Paula could only sit by Amelia and watch her sleep "...She had to have a cannula in her hand, and a rather large bandage to keep it in place, as well as a feeding tube in her nose." Paula explains. "When I first saw her with all the tubes and machines attached, my gut instinct was to pick her up and run away. My precious baby was so poorly and there was nothing I could do to fix her."
Countless parents will understand the helplessness that Paula felt, Paula continues "It was while I was watching Amelia sleeping that I realised how scary it all looked. The baby grow she had on was only done up to her chest and the arm of the baby-grow was flopped by the side of her, as the sleeves weren't big enough to cover the bandage.
I thought, with a few adjustments and some simple poppers placed along the top of the sleeves, a new design of baby-grow, specifically created for babies in special care units, would make life so much easier, not only for parents, but for nursing staff too."
Returning home from the hospital, Paula asked her dear friend Alison Wright if she could help create a few poppered baby grows for the local hospital, Alison came up with the design and the Pop N Grow baby grow was born.
Now, Paula and Alison, with the help of a growing group of volunteers and supporters are aiming to supply special care units around the UK with these new baby grows totally free of charge.
With a simple idea, a good friend, bundles of creativity and lots of determination, Pop N Grow has come a long way in a very short time
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