Bliss (charity) the charity for the Blue Peter appeal twice, raising £2.7 million and helping to raise awareness about underfunding in neonatal intensive care units. In 2000 Bliss ran a campaign to show that neonatal units in the UK were relying on the charity for equipment, rather than the NHS. The story made the front page of the Daily Express and £6.5 million was then announced for neonatal intensive care. From then on, Bliss decided to spend less money on equipment and started funding medical training and research. Bliss champions the right for every baby born premature or sick to receive the
Neonatal intensive care unit infant mortality. The development of pulmonary surfactant, which facilitates the oxygenation and ventilation of underdeveloped lungs, has been the most important development in neonatology to date. By the 1970s, NICUs were an established part of hospitals in the developed world. In Britain, some early units ran community programmes, sending experienced nurses to help care for premature babies at home. But increasingly technological monitoring and therapy meant special care for babies became hospital-based. By the 1980s, over 90% of births took place in hospital. The emergency dash from home to the NICU with baby in a transport incubator had become a