Worthing mum behind Employer with Heart initiative plans run to raise awareness of the premature baby policy

Kerry Myles will cover 26km in total, as her son Alfie was born at 26 weeks, and she will be stopping at 5km intervals every three hours, to signify the times she was able to touch him each day in the neonatal intensive care unit.

The aim is to raise awareness of what people go through when a baby is born early and to urge employers to sign up to the charter, because, she says, 'no parent should spend precious leave unable to be with their baby'.

Even now, four years on, it is sometimes difficult for Kerry to comprehend what happened to her. She went on a five-day mini break to America just after 20-week scan but was taken ill from the plane on the return journey. She was admitted to hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, in October 2019 at 23 weeks and 5 days pregnant.

Kerry said: "The palliative care team explained what might happen if I was to give birth then, four months earlier than my due date. After 16 long days in hospital on an emotional rollercoaster of false alarms and instability, my son Alfie was born very suddenly and traumatically at 26 weeks gestation, weighing just 2lb 2oz (1.01kg).

"I had to wait five hours before I was even able to see Alfie and was then returned to a hospital room on my own, unable to be with my newborn baby while the doctors tried to stabilise him. On day three of Alfie’s life, I was able to hold him for the first time, but this was for less than ten minutes as he was unable to keep his temperature where his skin hadn’t fully formed yet.

"Most of my contact with him for the first few months was at three-hour intervals through the portholes of the incubator. He spent 50 days on oxygen and 88 nights in NICU, where all I had was a teddy from his incubator to take home to bed with me each night.

"It’s impossible to describe the physical and emotional trauma I endured but even harder to comprehend that for so many parents, it’s how they spend their precious maternity / paternity leave."

Kerry was lucky, her employer gave her an additional three months’ leave at full pay to reflect the time between Alfie’s due date and his premature birth.

She pointed out, however: "Even with the additional time off, a large part of my maternity leave was spent attending medical appointments, trips back to A&E and regular physical therapy following Alfie’s brain bleed. I also underwent six months of trauma therapy throughout my maternity leave to help process everything that I’d been through."

Alfie spent nearly three months in intensive care and after he was discharged from NICU, Kerry moved from Surrey back to Worthing, where she grew up, to be nearer family and friends.

She is now a volunteer for premature baby charity The Smallest Things and recently became a trustee. The aim of her run on Saturday, February 24, is to raise awareness of premature birth and the charity's Employer with Heart initiative.

Alfie is still under the care of the Royal Alexandra Children's Hospital in Brighton as an outpatient and it is here she will start her run at 2am. The journey will take her to Goring, with planned stops throughout.

Kerry said: "I have the support of various local businesses, who are allowing me to rest and raise sponsorship money while on their premises. The locations include Perch on Lancing Beach, The Cornerhouse in Worthing and Sea Lane Café.

"My aim for the run is about raising awareness and trying to get organisations to sign up to become an Employer with Heart, so that parents of premature babies aren't forced back to work with a very sick child."

Kerry works for global insurance broker Gallagher and also sits on its UK Inclusivity and Diversity Committee. She put forward a case for Gallagher to implement a premature baby policy and worked with a team to launch it to the business, making Gallagher an Employer with Heart.

Kerry explained: "In my role as a trustee of The Smallest Things, we created ready-made presentations, packs and templates for employers wanting to implement the updated version of the charter, Employer with Heart 2.0, supporting parents and partners with equal additional leave for the period their baby was born premature. This was a great test to ensure the packs were fit for purpose for organisations to use."

Visit www.thesmallestthings.org for more information or email [email protected] for help and support in making a positive change for families of premature babies.

Kerry said: "It’s hard to put into words what my organisation becoming an Employer with Heart means to me. To have led this change in developing and launching a policy and knowing what a difference it will make to families of premature babies in their time of need is without doubt the proudest moment of my career."

Since launching the policy within Gallagher, Kerry is urging other organisations to sign up to also become an Employer with Heart. The run to raise awareness of the initiative also marks The Smallest Things' ten-year anniversary. Visit www.justgiving.com/page/kerry-myles-1694759200506 to make a donation.

Supporters can cheer Kerry on along the final stretch, leaving The Corner House in Worthing on February 24 at 2pm and arriving at Sea Lane Café in Goring around 2.30pm.