Joanne’s baby trauma inspires her to offer a helping hand

Joanne and Scott Beedie thought they'd won the lottery when they discovered they were expecting identical twins. But that turned to worry when the boys were diagnosed with twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome.

After losing baby Logan at 21 weeks, Joanne gave birth to the surviving twin, Lewis, at 27 weeks. He weighed just 940 grams and spent 12 weeks in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at Perth’s King Edward Hospital.

It was traumatic, says Joanne. “It’s not something that mums and dads should go through. It’s so stressful, and the anxiety … you never know what’s going to happen.”

Joanne was determined to turn the experience into a positive one. She joined forces with another couple, their “bedside buddies”, who also had premature twin boys to set up Helping Little Hands.

The charity provides practical help for the hundreds of parents with a premature baby in ‘King Eddies’.

Joanne has organised a Dinner’s Ready program offering home-cooked meals to tired mums and dads; a Nutritious Nibbles service providing healthy snacks for long days at the hospital; home support such as lawn mowing and cleaning; and fuel vouchers to ease the cost of travel.

Joanne says it’s “incredible” to have been voted a Westfield Local Hero. “It means the community is supporting what I and my team are doing.

“We’ve been running Helping Little Hands for a year and I don’t think we appreciated just how big the need is. The spotlight that’s been given to this issue is wonderful.”

The $10,000 Westfield Local Heroes grant has enabled us to make an enormous and long-lasting impact to families and will leave a legacy of the Local Hero grant within the NICU at King Edward Memorial Hospital. We are currently working with contractors and the hospital on the plans for the refurbishment of the parent lounge and enhancement of the facilities.

“The Westfield Local Heroes grant was an absolute highlight of 2018. It reflected our commitment and passion for the work we do and to have that work publicly recognised and supported so generously, especially as we are still in our infancy as an organisation, will forever be a marker in our journey.’

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