Baby unit's a real star, say parents (From Oxford Mail)

Baby unit's a real star, say parents

11:50am Tuesday 3rd July 2012 in News

PARENTS got together to celebrate the dedicated Oxford hospital staff who helped bring their children into the world.

The Silver Star unit at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Headington is renowned for the care it provides women with difficulties during pregnancy.

And mothers and fathers came to support the unit at its summer party on Saturday.

Writer and comedian Armando Iannucci, who had three children born at the unit and is patron of the charity, also attended the event.

Laura Benham, from Aylesbury, was with her two-year-old son Max and her twins Freya and Ava who are three weeks old.

The 32-year-old was referred to the unit for both of her pregnancies because her first child was stillborn and doctors could not find out why it had happened.

She said: “They looked after me during the pregnancy of my son and my twins.

“They were amazing and I cannot fault them. The level of service we got was far greater than we would have got elsewhere. During my pregnancies I was scanned every two weeks so I got to know the staff quite well. They like to see how the babies are doing.

“And I have been to quite a few of their fundraisers and you often see the same faces.

“It is nice to see the babies and everybody who has been through the unit. We have that in common.”

The summer party, which took place on the lawns outside the John Radcliffe’s Women’s Centre, featured a bouncy castle, a magic show and birds of prey as wells as cakes and children’s games.

Kiera Bentley-Mouat went to the party with the Defence Academy’s military wives choir.

She said: “We sang a few numbers because our musical director was treated there. We had a really warm reception.

“It is fantastic that this kind of facility is available and we feel very lucky such a good intensive care unit is in our area.”