Little Footsteps: Turning Small Hands and Big Hearts into Comfort for Preemie Families
A Need Close to Home
When Jocelyn Ho set out to help the parents of premature babies at North Shore Hospital, they didn't just want to raise money, she wanted to make something that would sit by an incubator and remind a frightened new parent that they weren't alone.
The need was real. Around 4,000 babies are born premature in New Zealand every year, and the parents who find themselves living beside a Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU) or NICU often face an experience no one prepared them for. Studies show more than 60% of these parents report severe or extreme stress, and close to half struggle with anxiety after their baby's birth. That stress doesn't stay contained; it can affect a parent's ability to bond with and care for their newborn, with ripple effects on the child's development too.
The project was personal for Jocelyn. Born at just 31 weeks, she spent the first months of her life in an SCBU. "I know how much the early moments mean to parents from what my mum has told me about my time in hospital," she says. "We wanted to create something that would help parents during a stressful time."
Designing Little Footsteps
Jocelyn and a friend designed Little Footsteps, a beautifully crafted journal for parents to record milestones, memories, and reflections during their baby's hospital stay. The journal gives parents a place to log weight, length, and milestones, from finishing tube feeding to a first bath, with a gentle reminder printed alongside: "these are in no particular order, everyone's journey is different." Each pack is thoughtfully put together and includes a small ink pad so parents can capture their baby's footprint as a keepsake.
Each pack also includes a music box holding an original piece of music, composed by Jocelyn and drawing on her years on her church's worship team. For Jocelyn, that musical background wasn't incidental to the project, it was the reason she was able to contribute something so personal, and she says the process felt like a natural extension of the faith and creativity she'd built over years of playing and singing alongside her church family.
A Community Effort
The girls didn't build this on their own. From the beginning, their church community became an essential part of the project. Members were invited to write personal reflections for the book, offering words of encouragement to parents they would likely never meet. Rev. Mark Maney of Massey Riverhead Presbyterian Church contributed a message about holding onto faith through the hardest hours by a baby's bedside, and church friends including Andrea Tan, Glenda Choi, Jean Wong, Jenny Wong, Lillian Shum, Linlee Tram, Michelle Wai, Yanna Ho, and Weng Wai Bing all shared their own words of hope, resilience, and encouragement, several drawing on their own experiences of parenthood and faith. Those reflections became some of the most meaningful pages in the book, offered by people who understood, in their own way, what it means to walk through fear and come out the other side still holding onto hope.
The community's support reached beyond Auckland, too. Two church friends in Hong Kong, Bonnie Wong and Winnie Hui, created original artwork to accompany the quotes, turning the book into a genuinely international effort of care built entirely through personal connections.
Delivering Comfort, and Looking Ahead
Together, they produced 50 professionally printed books and gift packs, now being shared with families in the SCBU through a partnership with the Well Foundation. The response has been warm: hospital staff and the Foundation both praised the packs' content and design.
Well Foundation says it is inspiring to see young people in the community leading projects like this and making a meaningful difference for hospital patients.
Looking back, they say they'd do a few things differently next time: reaching out to the Well Foundation earlier to shape the project around their exact needs (they're now hoping to help with the SCBU's 2026 refurbishment), involving even more of the church, including the Sunday School children, and keeping closer track of the weeks, which "really flew past."
But what stands out most is what didn't change: a community of ordinary people, from Auckland to Hong Kong, choosing to offer their time, words, art, and music to families they'll likely never meet. It's a reminder that small, faithful acts, a footprint page, a few bars of music, a handful of quotes from people who care, can carry real comfort to parents in their hardest moments.
To read more from Well Foundation, including how to support North Shore Hospital, go to https://www.wellfoundation.org.nz/