TIPS - Tiny Infant Parents Support Group

TIPS (Tiny Infant Parents Support) was set up in Malta in the summer of 1997. It was the idea of Janice Buttigieg and Louise Farrugia.

Janice's daughter Victoria was born in London in 1993 at 27 weeks gestation and weighed 1kilo at birth. Victoria spent a total of 18 weeks in the SCBU. When Janice came to live in Malta she met Louise, who had also given birth at 27 weeks. Louise's daughter Nicole weighed only 525g at birth and due to various complications had to remain in special care for nine months. Janice and Louise got together and came up with the idea of TIPS.

They chose the logo of the mother kangaroo with the baby joey in her pouch to represent the group because as you may be aware when the baby kangaroo is born it is no bigger than your small finger. It then crawls its' way up to the pouch and there it remains feeding and keeping warm and safe until it is big enough and strong enough to face the outside world. They feel that this represents the birth of a tiny premature baby, who will stay in the care and warmth of the special care baby unit until he or she can go home.

The aims of TIPS are as follows:

• To support and care for the parents of premature babies, whilst the baby is in hospital and once the baby has come home.
• To put new parents of special care babies in contact with other parents who have been through a similar experience.
• To encourage new and supportive friendships.
• To raise awareness amongst health personnel, family members and the public in general, of the needs of these parents.
• To offer contact and support to these parents through organised social gatherings for as long as they feel they need.
• To raise funds to help buy specialised equipment needed by SCBU.

As a result of several very successful fund raising campaigns we have been able to donate several pieces of vital life saving equipment to the SCBU. This equipment includes a CPAP monitor, Digitrapper pH, Biliblanket, blood glucose analyser, pulse oximeter and apnoea alarms.

Would you like to talk to someone who, like you, has had a baby in Special Care and understands the difficulties? We are available at any time for help or just for a chat and a cup of coffee. If you are feeling worried or isolated, it may help to talk to someone who has had a similar experience of having a premature baby.

TIPS CONTACTS

Louise Farrugia 21371555 (Mobile 9944 4861)
Janice Buttigieg 21577087
Didi Busietta 21388795 (Mobile 9944 4862)

TIPS (Tiny Infant Parents Support) is a voluntary group within the Cana Movement.