Giving the ‘Gift of Hope’ to NICU Babies & Families

The Caring for Miracles and Malia Brown Foundations will be hosting their inaugural fundraising event ‘The Gift of Life Auction’, to benefit the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the University Hospital of the West Indies. We wish to thank you for providing us the opportunity to create awareness about this worthy venture.

The Art Auction, which will host a virtual and live audience (in compliance with Covid-19 protocols), will be on 2nd April 2022 at the AC Hotel by Marriott. We plan to host a silent auction prior to the main function. Both events will target a local and international audience.

Background

The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) was first established in 1961 as a small room on the maternity ward, providing basic care for babies. It was subsequently relocated in 1963 and underwent major refurbishing in 2001. As this unit approaches its 20th year in its current footprint, there are many success stories and modern miracles that the staff has been a part of, which should be celebrated. There is, however, much work still to be done to equip and position this institution as one of the quaternary referral centres for the Caribbean basin!

It is with this vision of an empowered, well equipped NICU at the UHWI which is up to global standards, and which has attained and sustained the United Nations Sustainable Development goal of a Neonatal Mortality rate < 12/1000 live births, that the Caring for Miracles and Malia Brown Foundations have joined forces to raise funds to purchase life-saving equipment and provide support for training of nursing and allied staff.

About Caring for Miracles Foundation 

The Caring for Miracles Foundation was created in pursuit of the vision that all children attain optimal physical, mental and emotional health in order to achieve their greatest potential. The recognition that the experience in the first few days to weeks of life plays a pivotal role in the trajectory of any child’s life has directed the mission of this foundation, which is to ensure that ‘all newborns receive equitable, optimal healthcare’.

The Foundation intends to adopt Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs) in low and middle income countries (LMIC) and work collaboratively with local medical teams and governments to improve the care delivered to Neonates in these countries by providing support for purchase of necessary life-saving equipment, training of medical, nursing, biomedical and allied staff as required, with the aim of reducing the Neonatal Mortality rate to < 12/1000 live births. This aligns with the third of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

We have decided to focus on the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the University Hospital of the West Indies, Kingston, Jamaica for the next five years, with a view to being instrumental in positioning this unit as one of the state of the art quaternary referral centres for the Caribbean, positioned to support the training of physicians, nurses which we hope will contribute to improved care delivery across the island and consequent improved neonatal outcomes. We will be partnering with the Malia Brown Foundation to host the inaugural fundraising Gift of Life Art Auction at the AC Hotel by Marriott Saturday April 2022.

We plan to eventually expand to the Caribbean region with a focus on University Affiliated Hospitals and select non campus countries with a view to standardizing the delivery of care to newborn children in the region and reducing mortality.