Caring for fragile newborns

NICU Helping Little Hands Incorporated
Kind. Selfless. Accepting

Joanne Beedie helps remove financial stress to enable thousands of Perth families impacted by a premature birth to concentrate on bonding with their fragile newborns.

In response to her own traumatic three-month NICU experience, Joanne co-founded Helping Little Hands to support families at King Edward Memorial Hospital and Perth Children’s Hospital.

Joanne works hard to reduce the burden of everyday tasks and helps cover travel and food costs. The charity also helps with car seats and prams after discharge.

The aim is to allow the parents to concentrate on caring for their babies, themselves and their families.

“By allowing families to focus on their babies, we support emotional bonding and better mental health. Families can feel supported during one of the most challenging times they can face,” Joanne says.

She believes the best medicine for a premature baby is time with their parents.

During COVID-19, the volunteers have been unable to visit patients in hospital, so they have used their strong network of health professionals to reach families with donations of fuel, transport and supermarket vouchers.

Joanne was a Westfield Local Hero in 2018 and appreciates being nominated for a second time. “It feels like our achievements have made a recognisable impact in the community. It motivates us to know our work is important, recognised and valued.”

Westfield Local Heroes are nominated and voted for by their communities, with the three top finalists per Westfield centre each awarded a $10,000 grant for their affiliated organisation. Helping Little Hands will be able to donate essential 'big ticket' items like car seats and prams to parents of premature babies so they can leave NICU when they are discharged.

For further information on the Westfield Local Heroes program, click here