Surgical Neonatal Appeal

Our current Appeal is for a state-of-the-art unit for newborn babies - and their families

Liverpool Legend Jamie Carragher is backing our latest fundraising appeal for a brand new, state of the art Surgical Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).

Jamie, who was treated at Alder Hey’s neonatal ward for the first six weeks of his life, launched the appeal for us in 2021 to raise upto £3m for the new Surgical NICU on behalf of Alder Hey Children’s Charity.

Jamie said: “My family and I will forever be grateful to Alder Hey after they cared for me as a baby. The new unit will help keep families together at such a worrying time and provide lifesaving treatment. I am proud to support this appeal and it is something we can all get behind.”

Alder Hey has always pioneered neontal care – opening the world’s first surgical neonatal unit in 1953. This unit will offer 22 neonatal cots and will feature 18 individual family rooms where parents can be alongside their poorly new-borns whilst they’re receiving expert care. It’s the first of it’s kind in the UK.

The unit will address a shared concern between Liverpool Women’s and Alder Hey that babies who need specialist surgery currently have to be transferred to Alder Hey to get the specialist surgical care they need and are then transferred back to Liverpool Women’s Hospital to continue their specialist neonatal care, sometime several times.

The facility is costing around £26m to build with the Charity Appeal aiming to contribute upto £3m and is due to open in 2024.

Donations will help us to provide ‘over and above’ enhancements and equipment for both the clinical space and family areas, elevating the new Neonatal unit from a facility that provides families with a safe and secure environment for their new-borns, to a truly world-class facility that wraps-around families with the most vulnerable babies in the region.

Specialist neonatal staff from Liverpool Women’s Hospital will work alongside Alder Hey staff at the new NICU ensuring that poorly babies are transferred between the two hospitals as little as possible.

Explore 3D views of the new unit interiors!

Experience and explore a Cot Room
Experience and explore a Parent Room
View the Touch Down nurses view and corridor area.

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Frankie's Story

Frankie was born in March 2022. Prior to his birth he had been diagnosed with gastroschisis which meant he would be born with his bowels on the outside of his stomach and surgery to fix this would be needed within hours of birth.

Betty's Story

Betty came into the world over 4 months early and weighed only 650 grams. She was very fragile and very sick. Because of her extreme prematurity she needed neonatal intensive care at Liverpool Women’s Hospital where her immature lungs were supported by a ventilator.

Lydia's Story

Seven year old Lydia was born with a very complex case of Gastroschisis, a condition where the intestines extend outside of the abdomen through a hole next to the belly button. After the emergency operation, Lydia struggled for some time because her bowels didn’t work very well, and a few months later she had to have another operation.

Watch our fly-through video below and then see our short videos of Jo Minford, Paediatric and Neonatal Surgeon at Alder Hey , as she explains why this new unit is critical.

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