I was very happy to host Bliss in Parliament to hear from families with firsthand experience of neonatal care. Every year, around 1 in 7 babies born prematurely in the UK will be admitted to neonatal care — that is more than 90,000 babies. With each one of them is a family navigating uncertainty and hope.

The government’s new neonatal leave rules come into effect on April 6th 2025, entitling people whose babies are born prematurely to an extra 12 weeks of paid leave. This is an important change, which is testament to the tireless campaigning on this issue from affected families and organisations like Bliss.

It was great to get insights from families whose babies were born prematurely and discuss the changes needed to improve care for sick and premature babies. Three particular issues that emerged from Bliss’s recent ‘Future of Neonatal Care’ report were the need to increase staffing levels, address health inequalities and improve the availability of neonatal accommodation for parents.