Mum’s Charity Cha-Cha Raised £11k for Preemie Heroes

A mum who gave birth to her son at just 24 weeks and one day pregnant raised over £11,300 to support the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at our hospital, where her son was nursed for the first nine weeks of his life.

Mum of two, Sarah Greenow, from Glasbury in Wales, has nothing but praise and gratitude for the team that gave her now four-year-old son, Monty, a chance at life after he was born prematurely, so she organised her own charity Strictly Come Dancing event.

In July 2021 Sarah was just over halfway through her second pregnancy when she called her midwife with a suspected water infection. She was sent to her local hospital and given antibiotics and as a precaution, a nurse examined her and to both of their surprise discovered that Sarah was in labour.

Sarah and her husband, Steve, were rushed to the delivery suite but with no beds available, Sarah boarded an ambulance and began the journey to our hospital. However, on the way, Sarah began bleeding and the paramedics diverted to another hospital, where Monty was born.

Sarah and Steve had been prepared that Monty may not survive or that if he did, being so early could result in him being blind, deaf, suffer other issues with his development and may not make any sound on his arrival…but as Monty entered the world, Sarah heard a little cry.

Monty was rushed by blue lights and sirens to our hospital, a two-hour drive away from his home, so that he could be cared for in our specialist Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Needing her own care after Monty’s surprise arrival, Sarah followed the next day to see her tiny new baby. She felt helpless seeing Monty in his incubator, with tubes and wires attached to keep him alive, but she quickly realised he was in the best possible hands.

Over the next nine weeks, Monty went from strength to strength in the unit. His journey wasn’t without setbacks, including Sarah and Steve contracting Covid, meaning they couldn’t visit him for 10 days. When Monty was strong enough, he was transferred back to his local hospital where his care continued until his due date when he was discharged, and at long last could meet his big sister, 20-month-old, Delilah.

Despite his scary start, Monty is thriving and is doing incredibly well in his first year of school, a year ahead of where he would have been had he been born on his due date, and Sarah is forever grateful for the care he and their family received.

By way of saying thank you, Sarah began fundraising for us, to support the work of the NICU team. She began with a coffee morning, which saw her raise £1,000 for the charity but then set her sights on a higher target.

Sarah approached her sister and brother-in-law, Jane and Roger, who had successfully organised annual Strictly Come Dancing fundraisers in their hometown of Montgomery, and asked them to take the tradition to Glasbury to raise funds for us, as well as two other causes close to their heart.

Eight Glasbury locals were chosen to compete in the competition, and just ten days before the event, they were brought together to choose their partners’ names from a hat. Then they had just six days to learn four dances together, to show off on the night.

A week later, the couples came together at the Royal Welsh Showground, where they performed their dances to four local judges an audience of 360, made up of family and friends, who placed their bids on their favourite dances. The highest bid for a single dance came in at £2,500, contributing to a total of a whopping £34,000 to be split between the charities.

Sarah said: “We literally had a ball at our Strictly fundraiser – it was so fun, everyone enjoyed taking part and watching, and we’re absolutely over the moon with the amount we raised together.

“Without Birmingham Women’s Hospital and the care and support they gave us, Monty simply wouldn’t be here and we’ll never ever take that for granted. Supporting the charity is our way of giving back, saying thank you and helping other families in a similar position to us.”

Annie Eytle, Head of Public Fundraising at Birmingham Women’s Hospital Charity, said: “Sarah’s Strictly style fundraiser gets a ‘10’ from us! We’re so grateful for the ‘fab-u-lous’ funds she, her family and friends have raised, which will go on to support other babies and their families treated on our Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.”