Thank you for taking the time to visit Charlotte's JustGiving page.

In lieu of gifts in celebration of Charlotte's Christening, we have decided to request donations for the Woodlands Neonatal Unit at Watford General Hospital.  Whilst you are in no way obliged to make a donation, should you wish to, we would be eternally grateful.

Charlotte was born at 32 weeks gestation on the 24th June 2015 weighing just 3lb 7oz. Having been admitted into hospital unexpectedly two days prior, the original plan was to try to wait a further two weeks before delivering her - only at 34 weeks does a baby's ability to suck develop.

During those two days, Charlotte's heartbeat reduced and recovered several times.  A decision was taken by the medical team to deliver her by emergency C-section as the risk to her life was considered too great to wait.  What was meant to be a special moment, quickly turned into a scary one.  Charlotte was delivered and whisked away immediately in an incubator to special care.

After an initial stay in intensive care, Charlotte thankfully progressed quickly and was moved to high dependency and then finally to the special care nursery.  Everyone in the unit cared and supported us all with their expertise and unfailing dedication.  The staff are amazingly professional and efficient, and whilst leaving Charlotte every day was the hardest thing to do, we felt assured our beautiful baby girl was in the very best hands.

After 25 days, on the 18th July 2015, Charlotte was discharged from special care and we were finally allowed to take her home and begin our life as a family of four.

Unfortunately Watford SCBU is not fully funded by the NHS and needs valuable funds to keep and expand the service.  We have first hand experience in how donations can make a huge difference as Charlotte used equipment and services which had been bought through donations.

During those difficult days we often talked about how we could say 'thank you' to the unit, for essentially saving Charlotte's life, so we thought the best 'gift' in celebration of Charlotte would be to help others who find themselves in our situation.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.