Midwifes and Intensive Care Team - gift ideas

[dg93]

Hi, I'm so sorry I didn't know where else to post this.

My baby is currently in intensive care and has been since Friday and is receiving incredible help, and the midwifes have been here by my side the whole time. They've blown me away, and I want to give them gifts once baby is home.

What can I gift them? As in the entire teams not just 1 or 2 people.

I was originally thinking just sweets and snacks but I feel like they won't last 2 seconds 😅

Any ideas? They've saved my babies life and I'll be forever grateful

The intensive care unit is about 30 people maximum and the midwifes honestly, wouldn't be surprised if it was hundreds. I know ill never get a gift big enough for the midwifes!

Nice/good instant coffee and snacks - I asked and this was what they said.

I am doing a costco trip for my MDU team they have been lovely.

A Tassimo/ Nespresso and selection of nice teas & cordials?

We got our NICU team some lovely instant coffee and teas and a really big dispenser thing of nice hand cream. That was pre-covid though I'm not sure about the hand cream now. Perhaps the biggest box of nice biscuits you can find or a few boxes, no it won't last long but it's still the thought that counts.

A letter to the management will be appreciated.

Nice tea / coffee.

Voucher to get a pizza delivered - but check covid rules.

Pens, all medical people are always short of pens - and you could have them personalised with "thank you from dg93" - was a supply teacher and got personalised pens because mine always went missing.

totallybranded.co.uk/product/promotional-curvy-ball-pens/

A biscuit tin and biscuits. You could have biscuits delivered every month for a year.

You could make a donation to a charity in their name, such as building a water well in a deprived community - for larger projects like that, charities often provide regular updates and options for plaques or certificates, which the team could find really motivating and satisfying. That, plus maybe a biscuit or coffee subscription and a letter to management, would probably mean the world to most clinicians.

If going down the donation route, this would be a good one www.maternityworldwide.org/

Please do email the PALS team with your compliments for the staff, name individuals who have been especially great if applicable.

Your compliments/thanks will be passed onto the staff via the management and it's such a lovely morale boost for the whole team. Sometimes staff are even given awards by the Trust for lovely praise they receive from patients.

Also you really can't go wrong with chocolate.

Pens
Snacks

We send gift bags to the nicu that looked after our daughter each Christmas. I asked what they wanted last year and they were grateful for anything as a treat.

We just went the standard chocolates route, but we sent personalised thank you cards to the individual midwives for my antenatal and delivery care, and a general letter of thanks for the two teams.

Does your NNU have its own fundraising charity? Our does so we made a donation but for the long term, we are planning some fundraising activities for them.

@sweatpantsofdefeat

Please do email the PALS team with your compliments for the staff, name individuals who have been especially great if applicable.

Your compliments/thanks will be passed onto the staff via the management and it's such a lovely morale boost for the whole team. Sometimes staff are even given awards by the Trust for lovely praise they receive from patients.

Also you really can't go wrong with chocolate.

Yes I agree with this, definitely leave positive feedback, it is much appreciated. Honestly snacks are more than okay and a handwritten card, we keep them all and its a lovely morale boost.

Also if there's a hospital charity you can sometimes add where you'd like your donation to go, this can be on staff areas.

As a nurse we would always appreciate -

Good pens,
Tea and coffee
Nice snacks!
Thank yous for revalidation. (A general one for the staffing and maybe if you have a named nurse or midwife you could do a personal one for their portfolio.)

Thanks so much everyone!

With regards to pals, I was advised to put a complaint in against a doctor who refused to provide me with medicine I needed, which left my baby in intensive care (the intensive care team told me to complain to pals).

I hadn't thought about writing to them about how good the teams helping me and my baby have been since the issue arrived, but I will defiantely be doing this!

Thank you for the great suggestions

They genuinely would be happy with compliments formally passed on through the trust, or card and photos of your baby doing well at home would be very appreciated. Donating via the hospital charity even a small amount can buy equipment or fund more support for families like yours.
Congratulations on your new arrival!

Letter to management
I bought my midwives a huge crate of diet cokes
See if they’re raising funds for equipment and make a donation

Congratulations OP

A letter to management, mentioning particular people who have helped you. Other than that, black pens and nice tea and coffee.

I'm a nurse (former NICU nurse) and always loved tea, coffee and biscuits- never ungrateful for any present large or small!

One lovely idea we were once gifted was comfort items to make the night shift more comfortable (worth checking with the nurses to see what their nap arrangements are) but we didn't stock pillows on NICU and someone gave us 5 or 6 pillows so the night shift nurses could have a comfier nap! They were lush! Ideally wipe clean!