The Newborn Intensive Care Foundation (NICF) is urging people from the Canberra region to take the bake challenge to raise $40,000 to buy a cooling blanket and a phototherapy blanket to treat sick newborn babies admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit a Canberra Hospital.

Babies who do not cry and breathe at birth may develop a brain injury because of lack of oxygen from lack of blood flow to the brain. Research has shown that cooling babies a few degrees soon after birth decreases brain injury. That’s what a cooling blanket does.

The benefits of the phototherapy blanket are twofold: infants who have jaundice require treatment with phototherapy. Some types of Jaundice in a newborn baby can raise rapidly and can cause brain damage if untreated. Unlike traditional phototherapy treatments where the baby is separated from mum for long periods, the phototherapy blanket means there can be physical contact while the baby is undergoing essential light treatment. This benefits both the baby and parent enormously.

Additionally, when a baby needs transfer from another hospital it is difficult to give phototherapy during an ambulance transfer with traditional phototherapy equipment. The phototherapy blanket can wrap around a baby to provide this valuable treatment during transit.

To raise the funds, the NICF will run Bake for Babies from 1 June to 31 August.

You can bake whatever you like – scones, cakes, pizzas, muffins, biscuits, a slice, whatever, and sell to friends, family or colleagues and then deposit the proceeds into the NICF Bake for Babies account.

If you are like many and your scones turn out more like ANZAC biscuits, maybe people will sponsor you not to bake. Why not hold an MLA morning tea and solicit donations?

The concept is as broad as you like to make it. So will you take the bake challenge?