One of the Island’s newest twin mums has made a donation to the Maternity Ward’s appeal to buy a new ‘twin cot’ with the support of her colleagues at Zurich International Life.

HR Consultant, Donna Qualtrough, gave birth to her daughters, Erin and Ella, in the summer. They were born prematurely at 36 weeks and had to be separated for eight days when Erin had to go to the Special Care Baby Unit due to having feeding difficulties.

At the time they would have benefitted from using a twin cot at the unit, but with one not available the girls had no other option but to be separated. Most twins are born prematurely and research has shown that keeping the babies together in the same cot after birth helps to regulate body temperatures and sleep cycles, and helps encourage the development of special bond that they experience prior to birth.

Donna and her husband, James, recently took part in a special ‘Twin Walk’ to help raise money for the appeal started by fellow twin mums to buy a second twin cot for the Maternity Unit. She was sponsored by her Zurich colleagues who raised ?420 to support the appeal, which has now reached its target.

Donna and James also raised a further ?225 from friends, family and James’ work colleagues, contributing to a total of ?645.

Donna commented: “The Island has a large number of twin mums, as has Zurich itself, and I have definitely benefitted from this network since Erin and Ella were born. It was very difficult when they were separated in hospital and so having the use of a twin cot would have been very beneficial to us. I am delighted that my Zurich colleagues have got behind this appeal and been so generous in their support – this will be of huge benefit to so many families in the Isle of Man for years to come.

Zurich’s Communications Manager, Merita Taylor, added: “Only a very small number of hospitals in the British Isles have special twin cots and so we are thrilled that, very soon, the Island will have two. Zurich is a long-standing supporter of the Special Care Baby Unit – a large number of our employees have either been touched by this themselves or through their wider network of friends and family – and so when they heard about the appeal and Donna’s wish to raise money for it, they were only too keen to support her and such a worthwhile cause.” 

Photo - (L-R) Paul McCann, Lead Nurse for Neonatal Services at Noble’s Hospital, receives two cheques totalling ?645 for the Island’s Special Care Baby Unit from Donna and James Qualtrough, and their twin daughters Erin (green dress) and Ella (pink dress).