WellChild Helpline launched: UK’s only national children’s health advice line
January 22, 2008 by Andy Merrett · Leave a Comment
The children’s charity WellChild today announced the launch of the WellChild Helpline, designed to offer comprehensive help and advice to anyone concerned about the health and well-being of children.
Staffed by a team of trained healthcare professionals from a variety of disciplines, callers will either have questions answered, or efficiently passed to the most appropriate organisation.
BBC1’s Breakfast programme’s GP, Dr Rosemary Leonard, endorsed the WellChild Helpline, saying, “WellChild’s new service is extremely welcome as accessing the right information can seem daunting and not having access to concerns about health can cause a lot of anxiety. By having this multi-disciplinary team of experts at the end of a phone-line or email, WellChild will be putting people in touch with the right health information which could ultimately lead to saved lives as well as an enormous improvement in the quality of many more.”
1 in 8 campaign launches to bring parents and premature babies closer together
July 17, 2007 by Andy Merrett · Leave a Comment
According to research, only 18% of parents of premature or ill babies in special care know how to recognise their babies distress signals, and are able to comfort them.
Today sees the launch of the 1 in 8 campaign - supported by Fairy Non Bio, and BLISS, the premature baby charity - a groundbreaking research project that will look at new techniques to help parents be more involved in their baby’s care from day one.
As the name suggests, 1 in 8 babies in the UK are born premature or sick, and often the most natural instincts of a parent, to hold and soothe their child, are made difficult or uncomfortable in these situations due to being surrounded by medical equipment and complicated procedures.
More British grandparents caring for grandchildren than ever before, research suggests
July 10, 2007 by Andy Merrett · Leave a Comment
New research from Metanium suggests that British grandparents are more involved than ever with the care of their grandchildren.
Some five million grandparents now spend three days per week caring for their grandchildren.
Childcare is major source of concern for working parents. Cost is a key factor, but trust is even more important and an increasing number of mums and dads are solving the problem by keeping it in the family and turning to their own parents for help
Statistics show that the percentage of children receiving care from their grandparents is on its way to being tripled from 33% in the 1930s to 82% today.
Unlike the grandparents of the 1930s, todays grandparents have sophisticated toys, gadgets and electronic devices to help in their childcare role. In spite of that, good old fashioned cuddles, walks and snuggling up with a book are still favourite activities.
