Tiny Lives Fund 500 Books for Sunderland and RVI Neonatal Unit

Tiny Lives is proud to support Hannah Graham, a Sunderland mum, author and illustrator, who has created a beautiful new book to help families whose baby needs neonatal care.

Her book, Looking Through the Plastic, is designed to support brothers and sisters of babies receiving specialist care, helping them understand and feel included during what can be a challenging time.

Kelly Blakeney, Chief Executive of Tiny Lives said ‘We are delighted to be able to provide this beautiful book to brothers and sisters of babies receiving neonatal care, across both Sunderland and RVI neonatal units, where Hannah spent her own neonatal journey. Supporting siblings is such an important part of supporting the whole family, and we’re proud to make this resource available to families thanks to the generosity of our supporters.’

Thanks to the generosity of our supporters, Tiny Lives has funded the first 500 copies of the book, which will be shared between Sunderland Royal Hospital and Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI). It will be added to packs which will be given to the brothers and sisters of babies in their units.

Hannah’s story was inspired by her own experience when her son, Peter, was born three months early and spent time in neonatal care at Sunderland Royal Hospital.

Supporting siblings is an important part of supporting the whole family, and we’re delighted to make this resource available across both units — helping families through their neonatal journey, together.

Hannah said “I hope this story raises awareness about prematurity, a condition that is more common than many realise and I also want to promote the power of reading as an empowering tool for children and families. 

“I wrote this book because I wanted to make a difference and help others that have been in a similar situation, as well as creating awareness of prematurity in babies.

“This book is inspired by my experiences on the neonatal unit. In the back cover it actually has real diary entries that I wrote during my time on the unit.”

“Even though my baby does not have a sibling, in the book I created a boy named Theo, so other children can see the journey from this perspective. The purpose of the book is to celebrate siblings going through such a hard time, but also reading and to highlight how books can have a meaningful impact on children and their siblings. There are also so many studies to show how much reading to a prem baby can even clinically benefit their wellbeing.”

You can also preorder the book here.