I recently went on my first '40 for 40' and met the lovely Bliss Champions Sarah and Vicky at Poole Maternity Neonatal Unit.  I was introduced to the some of the staff and the very welcoming Matron who kindly joined us for a picture.



Both of the Bliss Champions I met can completely understand how the parents feel as their baby boy’s spent time on the ward and through this they can fully empathise with the parents they meet.

Sarah very kindly showed me around and I was desperate to meet some of the special babies.  My feelings saddened slightly when I was taken through to the intensive care unit and walked by what I thought was an empty incubator to look over again and see the tiniest little head poking out from a blanket.  I was lucky enough to have 2 healthy sized babies and before I knew it I felt tears spring to my eyes and forced myself to choke them back so no one would see me cry.  

From there, armed with lots of booklets and leaflets Sarah took me to meet some of the mums on the ward and we had a lovely chat with those whose babies needed special care for all sorts of different reasons.  One of them had given birth to gorgeous twin baby girls in October and their due date wasn’t even until the 22nd of January!

Sarah talked to the parents and offered information and Bliss booklets on all sorts of subjects including nutritional needs of premature babies, practical help, skin to skin contact, travelling home, bereavement and finance.  

I’m so pleased this was my first ’40 for 40’.  Everyone I spoke to was incredibly friendly and it was lovely to have an insight into what the charity does for local families. 

Thanks again to Sarah who to took the time to show me around, it was a morning I won’t forget.  Big well done to all the volunteers who give up their time to chat to the parents and hand out leaflets about local services and information and a huge thank you to all of the wonderful staff at the hospital who truly care about each and every tiny little person who comes into the world.

Bliss is a charity for babies born premature or sick.  For anyone who would like to learn more about what Bliss do please visit the website or Facebook page below.

Website: Bliss Charity

Facebook: Bliss Charity

#1of40

Note to self, don’t make sugary treats in January when everyone is on a diet!  Fingers crossed my homemade almond macaroons were enjoyed by someone at the hospital who doesn’t care about calories. x

I can thoroughly recommend Baby Sensory classes with Amy.  I already knew my baby girl would love the classes after attending with my son 4 years ago and I eagerly awaited for Friday afternoon each week to see the delight on her face as she was swept away in an hour of sensory activities.



When we started the term little Lucy struggled to sit up for longer than a few seconds and by the last class at Christmas she was dashing around and I loved watching her chasing the balloons and bubbles.  Little Lucy clearly loves singing (sorry honey, Mum’s voice not so good) and she would sit and stare at Amy whenever she sang and signed the words.

The structure of the class is very simple, each week there is a different theme with a few sensory activities followed by a short play time and then back to the mat for more activities.  Amy Moody is fantastic at delighting and engaging the babies and during our term Lucy was encouraged to smell different dried vegetables (although she kept trying to eat them), touch and feel various items in a box, watch flashing lights dancing around and there was even a puppet nativity play which she sat right in front of the whole way through.





Our favourite activity was always the one’s where we’d be given some bells or an instrument to play while Amy would put down a big bright colourful sheets to bounce balloons on or she’d hide an exciting surprise for the babies to discover underneath while bubbles floated around.

Play time was just as important as the activities for us.  It gave Lucy the chance to jump straight in the ball pit (she now has one at home thanks to Father Christmas) and it gave me the chance to chat to some of the Mums which is always nice when you haven’t had a conversation all day.



Our most favourite class had to be the Christmas special.  Little Lucy and all of the other babies got dressed up and we enjoyed a magical singing sleigh ride and lots of bouncing snowman balloons!

Good to know………

Amy currently runs classes at St Mary’s Longfleet Church in Poole and the Community Learning and Resource Centre in Wimborne.

Sometimes taster sessions are available so it’s worth enquiring if you would like to attend and see for yourself how much fun the babies have before committing to a term.

Classes are for babies from birth to 6 months and 7 to 13 months.

The classes are very relaxed if you need to feed or change your baby at any time.

If you would like to read more about Baby Sensory please visit the Website or you can find Amy on Facebook.

Please note – any details given re classes are correct at the time of writing.