Suffolk mum donates sensory items for babies to intensive care units across the UK

A Sudbury mum is looking to bring comfort to hundreds of babies in intensive care units across the country - by donating sensory items, like muslins.

Jen Fuller has been creating sensory products since she had her own child and spotted that children's attention can gravitate towards specific contrasts, patterns and colours.

Since then she's started her company Etta Loves and donates items to nominated hospitals across the UK, each month.

"It was a one of those light bulb moments" she said.

"It was when my first daughter Etta was about six weeks old, I was breastfeeding her and I had on a really bold, graphic, black and white top on, and she'd been a bit of a fussy feeder and as a new parent, I was full of anxiety and overwhelmed about whether she having enough, If I was doing it right.

"Actually I realized for this one feed she was really calm, really focused and I saw her eyes were totally locked onto this jumper.

"I sort of looked at these muslins that were everywhere on the sofa, arms over my shoulder in every bag possible, every corner of the house and thought, this is really helping.

"So that was the spark of the idea and then obviously I needed to find someone to put the scientific input in perhaps then start that journey of manufacturing.

"But it was very much an idea I couldn't ignore and I was amazed that no one had done it before. No one had thought to combine visual stimulation with things that are in their eye line every single day. And, yeah, Etta Loves was born."

1 in 7 babies born in the UK end up needing neonatal care and the average length of stay in a NICU unit is 7 days.

42 year old Jen Fuller, who's from Suffolk, designs sensory baby muslins and other baby essentials based on scientific research into what babies can see at different stages of their visual development journey.

As part of this, her company Etta Loves donates 100 sensory muslins each month to NICU wards including Lincoln Maternity Hospital.

Christina Axton is a Senior Ward Sister on a neonatal unit:

“Families who find themselves in the NICU can experience a total loss of control as well as feeling isolated and anxious."

“These muslins offer a gift to these families that is far more than ‘just’ a muslin. It has the ability to support mothers in bonding with their baby, enable nurses to offer developmental stimuli, and to provide parents the opportunity to develop a sense of control and connection in a highly medicalised environment.

"These are a gift of support and connection reminding these families that there is hope and they are not alone.”

“Our heart muslins are designed by four 7 year olds who started their lives in NICU. I got them to draw us hearts which we then turned into a special muslin which only goes out to NICU babies.

"The heart print is scaled with what is known about premature baby and infant vision in mind. We know our special heart muslins provide a way to connect the mums with their babies through smell and touch.

"The babies can be swaddled in the muslins while they are incubated as well as being immersed in them for baths.”

Jen has designed all her sensory muslins with the help of an early years orthoptist so that the designs are specifically based on what babies can and like seeing at different stages of their development. This can help their future cognitive development.