Parents Of Sick or Premature Children and Babies
Hi everyone,
Did you know that in Australia, 14,000 families a year have their child spend two or more weeks in hospital? Due to either illness, abnormalities, difficult births or prematurity. I'm one of these families and the experience opened my eyes to the challenges of these families. Not only are these families travelling to and from hospitals daily to provide kangaroo care and breast milk for their children, they're suffering their own medical issues and in some cases post partum depression.
At present, these families get the same amount of paid parental leave as those with healthy, full term babies. I've met some families who's entire Paid Parental Leave is used before their child comes home. A lot of these children also end up with lifelong medical appointments. Employers aren't always happy to provide flexibility for this either.
As a result, I've started the 58 Days Campaign - named for the number of days my son was in hospital. I'm advocating for 1% of the Paid Parental Leave budget for these families to receive an extra week of leave for each week their child spends in hospital. This will help alleviate some of the stress these families are under and allow them to be present with their children and improve their child's outcomes.
If you'd like to help you can sign our petition here https://change.org/58dayscampaign or follow us on Instagram and TikTok.
However, if you or someone you know is affected by this and is happy to share their story - ask them to reach out through socials or 58dayscampaign@gmail.com
I know there's a lot of room for improvement in this space but I think this is a great starting point.
Appreciate your support!