HOSPITAL chief John Rostill is urging the people of Worcestershire to dig deep into their pockets and help make this Christmas a special one for premature babies.

The Evening News is today launching a campaign - the Tiny Tots Appeal - aimed at raising as much cash as possible to help kit out Worcestershire Royal Hospital's Neo-natal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).

The ward works round-the-clock to save the lives of tiny babies who are born prematurely - helping them battle back from the brink of death against all the odds.

The staff work tirelessly in a bid to ensure the special tots are given constant attention - but it is not just their hard work that keeps them alive.

Life-saving equipment is needed to help keep the babies breathing and ensure they slowly develop until they can cope on their own.

Many parents, like Jodie Murrell, are overwhelmed by the support, love and care NICU has shown their bundles of joy - and know only too well that without the advancing technology their babies may have lost their battle for life.

But the equipment comes with a hefty price tag - and now, both the hospital and the Evening News are calling on the people of Worcestershire to help fund more life-saving technology and make this Christmas special for NICU's extra special babies.

John Rostill, chief executive of Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the Royal, whole-heartedly welcomed the appeal.

"It is heartening that our local newspaper is launching this marvellous appeal," he said.

"As always, any contribution from the public will be gratefully received and will be very beneficial to the newborn babies receiving care in NICU."

To offer your help, all you have to do is fill in the coupon on this page, and send a cheque or postal order to Worcestershire Royal Hospital's charitable funds.

The finance department has set up a special fund - "Number 5800" - exclusively for the Evening News' Tiny Tots Appeal - which means you will be safe in the knowledge that your money will go directly towards buying the equipment NICU needs.

The "shopping list" of equipment needed ranges from special sensory toys to help stimulate babies that are nearly well enough to go home, to more than £16,000 for portable monitors.

Every pound donated will mean the hospital is one step closer to helping more babies this Christmas.

Has the Neo-natal Intensive Care Unit helped you? Share your story with the Evening News to help the Tiny Tots Appeal. Call health reporter Emma Cullwick on 01905 742254.

WHEN Jodie Murrell went into labour early, she and her husband Alan's worst fears were realised when they were warned their baby might not live longer than 48 hours.

Jodie was just 26 weeks pregnant when her waters broke, and she soon realised how serious the situation was.

"We were told that when the baby was born, he or she would be very small and poorly and may not even start breathing," said the

25-year-old, of Ploughmans Close, Brickfields, Worcester.

But two-and-a-half years on and little Lyndon, who weighed just 1lb 8oz when he was born - which is less than a bag of sugar - is now a little bundle of joy.

Jodie can't believe her luck, and says it is all thanks to the Neo-natal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Worcestershire Royal Hospital that Lyndon survived the ordeal.

The unit also proved to be a vital lifeline and support for Jodie, Alan and their daughter Keira, who is now aged four-and-a-half.

Jodie gave birth to Lyndon at Birmingham Women's Hospital on April 28, 2002, as, at the time, the Royal only admitted women at least 32 weeks into their pregnancy.

But after seven weeks he was transferred to Worcester and at last Jodie, Alan and their family could visit regularly without having to travel long distances or worry about being away from Keira for too long.

"We were just so thankful there was a neo-natal facility at Worcester as otherwise we would have had to keep travelling to Birmingham, or worse, travel to the next nearest units, which are as far away as Bristol, Manchester or Liverpool," Jodie said.

"Of course, Lyndon was none the wiser but if we had had to travel further it would have meant having to stop there and not seeing Keira, who was already aware there was something wrong."

Once in Worcester, where he remained for a further seven weeks, Lyndon spent time in all the specialist units that make up the neo-natal ward - the intensive care unit, the high dependency room and the nursery.

In that time he had to remain in a heated cot attached to a variety of monitors, was on antibiotics for a stomach infection that stopped him breathing, and even had an operation on his retina which required the entire unit to be closed off while the surgery was carried out.

But Jodie's most vivid memory is of the time she took her grandparents to visit Lyndon, and he stopped breathing and started turning blue.

"I fetched a nurse and she came in and massaged his heart and remained very calm," she said.

"But as well as being highly professional the staff were always there to listen, have a chat and answer any silly questions."

Jodie is now thankful that Lyndon - who suffers from cerebral palsy, general development delay and epilepsy and still has to be fed through a tube overnight - is alive, happy and progressing well at his nursery at Rose Hill School, in Windermere Drive, Warndon.

"I want to stress how important it is that the neo-natal unit has all the equipment it needs," she said.

"Although the staff do the most fantastic job, they can't do it without the right equipment. Without it, lives like Lyndon's, would be lost."

Blankets and apnoea monitors: What we really want from Santa this year

Dear Santa,

This year we would like the Neo-Natal Intensive Care Unit at Worcestershire Royal Hospital to be able to buy these vital pieces

of equipment in a bid to save more premature

babies' lives.

n Two NICU portable monitors so babies can be constantly checked when they are being transferred to different units: £16,383 each

n One special blanket and high output phototherapy system - which is slid under jaundiced babies to help bring them back to health: £2,567

n Three oxygen and air blenders to help the babies' breathing: £1,500 each

n Three saturation monitors to help resuscitate the babies: £1,000 each

n 12 apnoea monitors - alarms that ring when a baby stops breathing: £530 each

n One double oxygen flow meter - regulates the flow of oxygen to the baby: £93

n One oxygen divider - allows oxygen as well as drugs to be supplied to the baby: £90.50

n Sensory toys to help stimulate babies who are on the mend.

Love from all the special babies at Worcestershire Royal.