“I had to wait five days before I could hold him.”

When Toowoomba mum, Bronwyn Bunn, was told her baby was due on Christmas Day, she hoped he or she would be born a week or two early.

But she didn’t expect that she would go into labour 12 weeks early. Or that her son Lucas would have to spend 40 long days in Mater’s Neonatal Critical Care Unit (NCCU).

At 27 weeks into her pregnancy and concerned that her baby wasn’t moving much, Bronwyn saw her doctor who called an ambulance immediately. Worried, she was transferred to Mater Mothers’ Hospital in Brisbane. “My cervix was shortening and I was at risk of going into early labour at any time,” Bronwyn said.

Bronwyn was given steroids and magnesium sulphate to try to prevent her labour but also prepare her baby if it was born early.

One week later little Lucas was born, 12 weeks early, and was rushed to Mater’s NCCU. “The first few days were very emotional. I had to wait five days before I could hold him,” Bronwyn said.

“You think when your baby is born, that mum and dad are the sole carers, but not for us. There were so many people in the room with him all the time. “Having to leave my baby each day was so hard but I knew that he was in the best hands with all the staff at Mater.”

For Bronwyn and her family, the funds raised through Mater Prize Home lotteries mean the world. “If Mater’s NCCU wasn’t here, Lucas wouldn’t be either.”

You can help many more Mater little miracles like Lucas simply by purchasing your Mater Prize Home lottery tickets today.