Now Far South Coast residents can help provide support to premature babies by rolling up their sleeves and baking.

The Newborn Intensive Care Foundation (NICF) is urging people from southern NSW to take the bake challenge to raise money to help transport sick and premature babies to or from the Canberra Hospital.

NICF Chairman and 2016 ACT Local Hero Peter Cursley said babies in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Canberra Hospital frequently needed to be transported to regional hospitals to be closer to home.

Around 300 babies a year are admitted to Canberra Hospital from southern NSW.

“Having babies closer to their families is essential as they make the progression from intensive care to going home,” Mr Cursley said.

“Some families have welcomed twins into their world and, as a consequence of the twin pregnancy, had premature babies.” 

To raise the money needed to purchase a twin transporter, the NICF is launching the Bake for Babies fundraiser on Saturday, July 1 that will run until the end of August.

“We need to have a safe transport system to transfer twins or two babies needing to go to the same hospital.

“Without this system we frequently have to do two trips to the hospital or airport – potentially separating babies,” Mr Cursley said. 

“People can bake whatever they like – scones, cakes, pizzas, brownies, cheesecakes, cupcakes, cookies, muffins, biscuits, a slice or maybe charge friends for a seat at the table of a baked dinner.

“We want people to have fun baking, and then sell their baked creations at a price they think appropriate and donate the profits to the NICF.”

Bake for Babies aims to raise $85,000 to purchase the humidicrib. Participants wanting to bake need to sign up to Bake for Babies on the NICF website at www.newborn.org.au/bakeforbabies.

One hundred per cent of all money raised by the NICF funds medical equipment, research and nurse education to help sick newborn babies.