In the UK, 1 in every 13 babies is born premature, but 1 in 7 babies need neonatal care at birth. Many families leave hospital assuming their baby will 'naturally catch up'. I'm an advanced occupational therapist specialising in neonatal care, and every day I see the reality behind that myth. The data - and more importantly, the families - tell a different story. Babies born extremely preterm are at high risk of cognitive, emotional and social challenges, yet across the UK access to vital early therapy support is deeply unequal.

Neonatal occupational therapy is one of the most poorly understood professions in the neonatal specialism. I plan to visit leading neonatal centres in the USA, where OTs make up the majority of the neonatal therapy workforce, and Scandinavia, where some of the world's best long-term outcomes for preterm babies are achieved.

I want to understand how these countries have embedded therapy into both neonatal care and early intervention: how they've trained and structured their workforce, how they support and educate families, how they evidence the outcomes of what they do, and how we can translate that learning into a stronger, more consistent UK approach.