DUBAI // Images of healthy, happy toddlers holding photographs of themselves as babies attached to tubes and life support machines have been released to raise awareness that infants born prematurely are resilient and give hope to parents.
The Mighty Dubai baby portraits aim to give courage to families with children in neonatal intensive care units and spread hope that the babies, although frail, are tough enough to pull through medical challenges.
Inspired by a similar campaign in Canada, mum Joanne Hanson-Halliwell, founder of support group Small and Mighty Babies, created the series of eight photos of former premature children born in the UAE.
“The most important thing was for the children who were born too soon to have something for the rest of their lives that celebrates what they and their families have achieved and that they fought through intensive care to be here,” said Ms Hanson-Halliwell, who set up the group three years ago after her son George, who was born at 30 weeks, spent five weeks in hospital.
“The UAE will always be a special place for these families and I wanted to create a memory those children will have forever. It’s also a powerful image for families in hospital so they can see the joy, the happiness and the hope.”
The photos show beaming children, aged three and under, gleefully clapping their hands, or staring with a grumpy and bemused expression, at the camera.
Sitting on the beach with the Burj Al Arab in the background, they hold early snaps of themselves. The black and white baby photos of tiny preemies with tubes to help them breathe vividly contrasts with the lively children propping up the frames.
Premature babies are born before 37 weeks gestation. Preterm birth complications are the leading cause of death among children under five, according to the World Health Organisation.
While some infants may have no complications, others battle life-threatening conditions, requiring treatment for chronic lung disease as well as eye surgery, hernia operations and dozens of blood transfusions.
For Carla Viedge the old photograph was a reminder of the 80 days her son Thomas, who was born at 28 weeks, spent in the NICU. Requiring surgery to repair a heart condition and a double hernia operation, Thomas’ weight was once a low 760 grams.
Now a healthy three-year-old, he made it clear at the photo shoot last month that he preferred to play on the beach rather than pose for the camera.
“Like many premature babies, he still has little scars on his hands and feet where they prick them every day to check blood levels. I hope after seeing the photos, other families feel yes, it’s a long road but there is light at the end of the tunnel. When you are staring at an incubator looking at a one kilogramme baby you think to yourself how can your baby possibly survive, so you need reassurance that all is not lost. Thomas is a little fighter, definitely my little superhero.”
The photo shoot was inspired by similar photographs of 50 early-born children taken by Canadian photographer Red Methot, the father of two premature babies, that he posted on Facebook.
Wandusjka Jennison said it was important that mothers knew guidance and support was available. “The main thing is families are not alone. Dubai can be pretty daunting because people are without families and friends, none of the people I knew had a premature baby. This group can offer support because people have gone through something similar,” said Ms Jennison, whose son Owen was born at 28 weeks and struggled through breathing difficulties while in hospital for three months. “It was a roller coaster; looking back at the picture of what he used to look like gives a sense of accomplishment that something so tiny has turned into something so amazing. It’s survival at all odds and joy for everything he has been able to achieve even if he didn’t have the greatest start.”
The group's photos have been posted on its website www.smallandmightybabies.com
It has plans for another photo shoot in November to coincide with World Prematurity Day.
rtalwar@thenational.ae
