Baby steps: Parents of pre-term babies take a key role in their care

Having a pre-term baby who may be very ill is challenging for every parent but there are supports available, writes Sharon Ní Chonchúir.

Today is World Prematurity Day, a day which aims to raise awareness of preterm births. These are births that occur at less than 37 weeks and there are 4,500 of them in Ireland every year.

The image that comes to mind when you think of a preterm baby is of a tiny mite in an incubator attached by wires to beeping monitors. But where are the parents in this picture? What role do they play in caring for their child?