Sophie’s Quest To Solve The Mysteries Of Premature Birth

By Belinda Findlay on January 9, 2015 in News

A plump, healthy, newborn cradled in its mother’s arms – it’s every parent’s dream. Sadly, for many, it’s far from a reality. Premature babies face many turbulent months fighting complications to survive, and their parents helplessly watch and desperately dream about being able to take their precious baby home.

In Australia, 8 percent of all babies are born prematurely and need specialist care in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Unless you’ve been affected by prematurity or know someone who has, you’ll never understand how scary and overwhelming the experience is.

Sophie and Ash Smith understand better than most. In 2006, Henry, Jasper and Evan, the first-born triplet sons of these Randwick locals, arrived at 24 weeks. Sadly, despite the efforts of The Royal Hospital for Women’s neonatal doctors, the brave little boys lost their fight to survive.

Sophie and Ash were determined that Henry, Jasper and Evan would never be forgotten, and that something good would come from their lives. So the Royal Hospital for Women Foundation set up The Henry, Jasper and Evan Smith Trust Fund to support the research and equipment needs of the hospital’s NICU.

Since 2007, Sophie’s brave sons have inspired her to rally a team of runners under the banner of ‘Running For Premature Babies’ to tackle the SMH Half Marathon to raise money for the fund.

Over 1800 runners have joined the team since its inception and raised a jaw-dropping $1.25 million. The Royal’s NICU now has a ‘best in state’ equipment level with 26 new pieces of life saving equipment that have kept more than 1800 babies alive. The money has also funded a neonatal doctor to conduct a research project for two years.

Sophie’s 2015 team is aiming to raise even more funds for prematurity research projects. These will help doctors solve the many mysteries surrounding prematurity to give these tiny babies a much better chance at survival.

Anyone can join Sophie’s 2015 team to run in the SMH Half Marathon on Sunday, May 19 and help her raise $200,000 to support prematurity research. You’ll get a free 16-week training session, team cap and singlet and much more, so get off the couch, jump on to www.runningforprematurebabies.com and join Sophie’s incredible team.