NORTHEAST Health Wangaratta (NHW) is calling on the community to come together in support of its smallest and most vulnerable patients - newborn babies - by helping raise $70,000 for essential neonatal equipment.

Launching today, just ahead of Mother’s Day this Sunday, the fundraising campaign aims to purchase state-of-the-art Panda Neonatal Infant Resuscitation Units to replace NHW’s ageing neonatal resuscitation cots, which are now more than a decade old.

“These resuscitation beds are critical in providing lifesaving support to newborns who need help immediately after birth,” said NHW chief executive officer Libby Fifis.

“They allow our clinical teams to monitor, warm stabilise, and care for babies in those vital first moments of life.

“What better way to honour the mums in our lives than by giving every newborn the best possible start?”

Ms Fifis said the new equipment combines warming technology with integrated resuscitation features, allowing clinicians to respond rapidly and safely while keeping the baby close to the mother, ensuring both warmth and care without delay.

She said NHW’s maternity ward has had a busy start to the year.

“We’ve had 276 births from January to April this year,” Ms Fifis said, with the ward and its facilities catering to a catchment including Yarrawonga, Benalla, Myrtleford and Bright.

NHW’s campaign will run from 9 May to 13 June, giving community members, businesses and local groups an opportunity to contribute to the wellbeing of families right here in the Wangaratta region.

Donations can be made online at nhw.org.au/appeal.

Ms Fifis said every donation, big or small, will help bring this vital equipment into the hands of those who need it most - frontline maternity staff and the families they care for.

“This isn’t just a hospital campaign,” she said.

“It’s a community campaign, because every baby born here deserves the very best, and that’s something we can all get behind.”

For more information or to make a donation, visit nhw.org.au/appeal