Just over 100 signatures needed to reach goal on mandatory baby CPR petition set up by Northampton mother

A mother of three wanted to show her appreciation for the Northampton Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) by hosting a fundraising event last Saturday (February 4).

Dakota Tarry-Spencer, 23, is the mother of two-year-old Nevaeh and seven-month-old twins Marley and Winnie.

Neveah was born at 35 weeks and spent 13 days in NICU, and twins Marley and Winnie were born at 32 weeks and spent 30 days there.

Dakota said: “All of them being taken away from me straight away was horrible. I had c-sections so I wasn’t allowed to move for 12 hours to go and see them.

“NICU did an amazing job and this is the only way I could thank them. Any way they could have helped, they did.”

On Saturday afternoon (February 4) at The Doddridge Centre, there were stalls, food and drink, a bouncy castle and soft play.

Dakota said: “The fundraiser went better than I could have imagined. We had people entering from the second we opened the door until the very end.”

There were around 100 people in attendance at different times, and £520 was raised on the day for Northampton’s NICU.

“The unit will be so pleased and they really deserve as much help as possible, “ said Dakota. “They do an incredible job of keeping our babies alive.”

The fundraiser also raised awareness of the importance of baby CPR and gave people the opportunity to sign the petition Dakota set up.

In October 2022, Dakota began campaigning for the government to fund free access to baby CPR training during pregnancy for all mothers – which has now amassed nearly 10,000 signatures.

This was two months after Dakota’s son Marley stopped breathing and turned blue and floppy at seven weeks old, and she used the skills learned from her baby CPR training to save his life.

The mother of three from St Crispins said: “I never thought I’d use it but he wouldn’t be here if I didn’t know how to do it before the emergency services came.”

Dakota received training in baby CPR as all three of her children were premature and cared for in NICU.

Every mother who is discharged from a neonatal unit with a premature baby receives the training, but Dakota believes all mothers need it and she set up the petition to make that a reality.

170 signatures were gained at the fundraising event alone and there are just over 100 to go to reach 10,000. Multiple demonstrations of baby CPR were also given on the day by Dakota.

She said: “I cannot believe how close we are to getting the final amount of signatures and I’m so proud.

“All of this started from the worst day of my life but Marley has made me want to help other mums.”

Following the success of the fundraising event and attendees asking for more to be arranged, Dakota plans to host more in the future.

To sign Dakota’s petition for every mother to receive baby CPR training, click here.