“WHEN you have a premature baby and you leave hospital you are completely on your own,” explains Jem Sanders, co-founder of premature baby charity
Just 1 Life. “In hospital everything is taken care of and you have a lot of support.But as soon as you’re released, it’s just you, your partner and your baby.” For Tamworthian Jem and his wife Laura, this isolation is only too real. The Glascote couple have had three premature babies. Their first Charlie, was born in December 2001 at 29 weeks. He weighed just 2lb 9oz. Sadly, Charlie only lived for three days. Jem and Laura’s second child, Shannon, was born in September 2003 at 30 weeks. She weighed 3lb 13oz. The youngster is now a bright and energetic five-year-old. Their third child, Keeleigh, was born in January 2009, at 30 weeks, weighing 3lb 10oz. And, thanks to the care and support of hospital staff, who Jem says fought to save her life, Keeleigh is now a healthy four-month-old little baby. It was following Keeleigh’s early arrival that Jem (49), along with friend and fellow Tamworth businessmen Roy Bickley, founded Just 1 Life.
The newly-created registered charity aims to raise funds to help provide neo-natal units across the country with state-of-the-art equipment as well as support for parents at home once they leave hospital with their babies.