Our History

SSNAP was founded in 1982 by Cessa Moore MBE and has supported the Newborn Care Unit at the John Radcliffe Hospital since then. Formed initially by a group of parents, who wanted to support other parents with premature and sick babies, SSNAP has continued this ethos to the present day - with family support at the centre of all the work we do. 

The Newborn Care Unit can now care for up to 47 babies at any one time and is a Level 3 Centre, meaning that the most sick and premature babies from across the Thames Valley, and often further afield, are looked after here in Oxford. 

When newborn babies need specialist, often lifesaving, medical care at birth it can be a traumatic and difficult time for parents and families. We are here to support parents, provide funding for specialist support and medical equipment as well as fund life changing research.