Newlife the Charity for Disabled Children has given Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity an early Christmas delivery of premature baby clothes for its neonatal unit.

Over 600 brand new, pre-term baby clothes were given to Newlife by one of its high-street retail partners who donate unsold clothes to the charity to sell through its four fashion stores around the Midlands.

Being the season on goodwill, instead of selling the clothes Newlife donated the clothes to the neonatal unit at Birmingham’s Children’s Hospital, who care for hundreds of babies born early each year.

Last year in the UK 60,000 babies were born prematurely, which raises the odds of the child of having or developing disabilities such as Cerebral Palsy or epilepsy, particularly in those born before 28 weeks.

“Advances in medical care means there’s more disabled children in the UK than ever before, almost one million in fact,” explains Colin Brown, Commercial Director for Newlife, the UK’s largest charity providing specialist equipment and support for disabled and terminally ill children.

“Thousands of families turn to Newlife every year, because they struggle to get the specialist equipment and support they need to keep their children safe, free from pain and isolation, or to enable them to have the same quality of life as able children.

“We wanted to make sure parents of premature babies didn’t have to worry about leaving the hospital to buy baby clothes, especially as many early babies are born very poorly and in need of specialist medical care.”

Miranda Williams, Public Fundraising Manager at Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity, commented, “We are incredibly grateful to Newlife the Charity for Disabled Children for donating the brand new, pre-term baby clothes to our neonatal unit here at Birmingham Children’s Hospital.”