Research Opportunities

There is an enormous amount of research currently being undertaken in Australia relating to preterm birth. We have been contacted by a range of people requesting that we advertise their studies to our community. You’ll find all of the relevant details below.


Preemie PAPAs

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Are you a preemie Dad?
Researchers from the Preemie PAPAs Project at The University of Queensland (Australia) are shining the light on the unique journeys faced by preemie Dads by investigating the well-being and parenting experiences of fathers of preemie children between 0 – 18 years of age. If you are a preemie father, please share your experiences with them here: https://exp.psy.uq.edu.au/preemiepapas.

If you are interested in their work, you can also follow them on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PreemiePAPAsProject/

Researchers have official ethics approval (#2020000736). Please comment below or email jemima.walker@uq.net.au if you have any questions or would like more information. 

Thank you!


The FAB Study

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Is your preemie child 0-18 years old?

Researchers from The FAB Study at The University of Queensland (Australia) would love to hear from you! See their website to participate: https://exp.psy.uq.edu.au/fab

The FAB Study is taking a much-needed positive approach to understanding the family unit by exploring factors that promote resilience to stress following the birth of a preemie miracle. If you are interested in their work head to their website (link in their bio) or you can follow them on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thefabstudy/ 

Researchers have official ethics approval (#2020000734). Please comment below or email o.yaksich@uqconnect.edu.au if you have any questions or would like more information. 

Thank you!


Executive functioning and everyday performance in school-age children born at term and preterm

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Are you the parent/caregiver of a 4- to -5-year- old?

Would you like to do an online survey about how you find life for them, and for you?

We are two Honours students studying Psychological Science at the University of Tasmania. We are inviting parents and caregivers of children born preterm (before 38 weeks) or at term (38 weeks or later), aged 4 to 5 years to complete an online, multiple-choice survey. It takes about 45 minutes to complete. 

We are interested in studying the experience for parents of looking after their children, as well as the effects of preterm birth. If you would like more information or are interested in participating in this study, please scan the QR code or copy the URL below to access the survey. 

Kind regards, Student researchers, Holly and Ellie.

https://tinyurl.com/ybuye9o7


The PICSI Study at Telethon Kids Institute

What's the study about?

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More than 15 million babies are born preterm each year. Those that survive face a lifetime of ongoing breathing problems and lung function that worsens through childhood. Some researchers have suggested that ongoing inflammation in the lungs might contribute to worsening lung function.

Our study aims to understand how inflammation in the lungs contributes to these ongoing breathing problems during childhood. We will also look at how the exhaled breath of preterm children is different to term children and test how treatment with an inhaled anti-inflammatory medicine changes the lung disease in preterm children.

Who can take part?

We're looking for children aged 6-12 years old, who were born very preterm (<32 weeks gestation) at King Edward Memorial Hospital. Download the Parent Information Sheet for children born preterm here.

We are also looking for healthy children aged 6-12 years old, who were born at term (>37 weeks gestation) and have no history of recurrent breathing problems. Download the Parent Information Sheet for children born at term here.

How can I find out more?

Contact Rhea Urs or Denby Evans on 0421 489 869 or by email at Preterm@telethonkids.org.au

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Father’s Day 2019

Today we celebrate Father’s Day and recognise all those Dad’s and Father Figures who…

  • are currently watching their baby in the Neonatal Unit

  • are anxiously waiting for their little one to arrive

  • only have memories of their baby in their heart

  • provide and care for their families

  • get up early for their children’t sport

  • receive phone calls from their β€˜big babies’ who have grown up

Happy Father’s Day to all of you!

For our current Neonatal Unit Dad’s all over this great state of Western Australia, we have provided a small gift today. To let you know that we are thinking of you and whilst this day might not be playing out the way you had planned we hope this brings a little cheer during this extremely difficult time.

If you are a Dad or Father Figure looking for some extra support we would welcome you to join our Facebook Group specifically for Dad’s here https://www.facebook.com/groups/TSWAdadsupport

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FREE Milestone Cards

FREE Milestone Cards Are now available to download and print at home!

Huge thanks to our HBF Run Team for making this possible!  We can’t wait to see the display boards hanging in units and parent lounges of Perth Neonatal Units very soon. This will make it easy for parents to access cards as they need them to celebrate every small achievement of life in NICU.

We just LOVE celebrating right along with our families and welcome you to tag us on your social media if you are sharing images @tinysparkswa #tinysparkswa With 36 different cards available there is one for almost every big achievement!

This is just one of the ways we are supporting Western Australian families living life in the Neonatal Unit.

Hop over to the dedicated Milestone Card page to download your own set today.

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Christmas in NICU

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Spending Christmas in a neonatal unit can be incredibly tough on families. For many Christmas is a time to come together and make special memories. Most neonatal units in Western Australia have a β€˜parents only’ visitation policy for infection control, and this means that siblings are often unable to meet their new baby brother or sister until discharge. It also means that families are split on special occasions such as Christmas. We know that many staff go above and beyond during the Christmas period to bring as much cheer as possible to their unit but it’s still challenging for families.

In 2015 we launched our annual Christmas Quilt Drive. This year we were once again successful in delivering Christmas Quilts to all babies occupying neonatal unit beds on Christmas morning in WA. This is only made possible through the generosity of the community! Thank you to all of our Crafty Creators who have put countless hours into sewing beautiful Christmas Quilts and Stockings for distribution. You really can see the love that goes into creating these keepsakes for families.

Each year we have been joined by the amazing family run Perth business, Foote & Flame, who have donated β€˜Baby’s 1st Christmas’ ornaments for distribution with our quilts. Their support is phenomenal and to date they have donated a staggering 750 ornaments!

This year we delivered 255 Christmas Quilts to 24 different hospitals in WA. The bulk of them were delivered to Perth’s King Edward Memorial Hospital (KEMH) who have Western Australia’s largest neonatal unit.

It was wonderful to have the opportunity to share our Christmas Quilt Drive publicly through 10 News First (watch their story below), The West Australian and The Western Suburbs Weekly. Click through to read their articles. Huge thanks to each of them for helping us raise awareness in the wider community.

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Mother's Day 2017

Mother's Day is such a special day for women everywhere.  It is an acknowledgement of the amazing role women play in their families as a Mother.  For some they will be spending this special day in hospital alongside their 'tiny spark'.  To bring some joy to what is no doubt a difficult time we have sent out some 200 gifts state wide, for those families spending Mother's Day in a neonatal unit.  Each gift includes a beautiful card with room for the neonatal nurses to stamp babies hand and foot prints and also some super cute tiny baby feet cookie cutters.  For many of these Mum's it will be their very first Mother's Day and we really hope they can treasure their gift for years to come.

Happy Mother's Day to all Mum's from the team at Tiny Sparks WA.

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