Mum raises €5,000 for baby hospital

Rachel Farrell

A SOUTHSIDE mother has raised €5,000 for Holles Street Hospital to give back to the neonatal unit where her three premature children were born. 

Anna Fitzgerald, from Glenageary, gave birth to three premature babies at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) in Holles Street Hospital. 

“Without the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in Holles Street, my three warriors may have had a very different outcome,” Anna explained.

“My eldest, Emily, was born at 32 weeks and after just three weeks in the NICU came home a healthy, thriving baby who is now in Junior Infants. Liam, my middle child, was born at 31 weeks and after seven weeks in the NICU came home and has filled our lives with boundless energy and mischief ever since.”

However, it was her youngest son, Fionn, who was the sickest out of the three. Born at 28 weeks, Fionn spent 10 weeks in the NICU.

Now a year old, Anna described him as “an amazing toddler, crawling and cruising around wanting to be a part of his older sibling’s games”. 

Last month, Anna held a ‘Bun in the Oven’ coffee morning in the Parish Hall, Johnstown for ‘Helping Holles Street’ NMH Foundation.

Cakes and provisions were provided by Cavistons, Tesco Park Pointe, Musgraves Sallynoggin, Cafe Solo Killiney and Baker Street in Glasthule.

“So many people showed up, you couldn’t have asked for a better morning,” Anna’s sister Emer explained.

“There were a few parents that came that had children born there too, as well as her husband Paul, our families and friends.

“A total of €5,000 was raised from both the coffee morning and the GoFundMe page online which is crazy, we only expected to raise a thousand.

“She went in to handover the cheque on March 5.”

The National Maternity Hospital at Holles Street delivers over 9,000 babies per year and over 25 a day.

Over 1,500 babies are admitted into intensive care in the NICU every year. According to the NMH foundation, some of the babies are born at as young as 23 weeks.

“The NMH Foundation’s mission is to support the vital work at the NMH, with special focus on our Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

“We want to help our doctors, midwives and nurses provide the best possible care to our mothers and babies.”