BENDIGO mother's Ange Cail and Sharyn Baré know all too well the heartache that comes with having a premature baby.
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Ms Cail's four children, Pierce, 14, Charlie, 7, Kassidy, 4 and Axel, 3 were all born premature and spent weeks in the neonatal unit in hospital before going home.
Ms Baré's only child Issac, 2, was also born prematurely and spent eight weeks in hospital in Melbourne.
Ms Cail described her four pregnancies as traumatic and stressful and said the experiences put a lot of strain on the rest of the family.
"It is time away from your family," she said.
"A normal mum gets to hold their baby straight away, a premature baby we don't get to hold, they go into a neonatal unit and we are lucky to hold them.
"I was lucky with (my first two children), I got to hold them hours later but with Axel, (born at 27 weeks), I didn't get to hold him until about two weeks after he was born.
"It's just tramatic not having that one-on-one experience with them.
"You can have a beautiful pregnancy and then it doesn't go to plan and you don't get to hold the baby."
Ms Cail said Axel had to stay at hospital in Melbourne for the first month of his life before being moved to a Bendigo hospital where he spent the next 10 weeks.
She said the experience was stressful for the other siblings.
"It's stress on the family both financially and mentally," she said.
"Bendigo can only hold (babies born 31 weeks and older), anything under has to go to Melbourne.
"It's also stressful for the other children having their mum away for periods of time."
Ms Baré spent the first five days of Issac's life in the intensive care unit and relied on her husband Tim to take photos.
"I think it is something that even now I can never get back," she said.
"It was really hard not being able to see for myself that he was alright.
"But I think you respect the work that the doctors and nurses do - they're amazing."
Ms Baré said bringing Issac home for the first time was overwhelming and an experience she will never forget.
"Friends and family don't really understand and you can't have too many people in hospital so when you get home you can really show your baby off," she said.
Both women are members of Loddon Mallee Kids, a support group for families with premature babies.
On Sunday the group will hold its fourth annual Pound the Pavement for Prems at Lake Weeroona to coincide with World Prematurity Day.
Ms Baré said the fundraiser aimed to raise money for local hospitals and LMK to put together support packs for families with premature babies.
"We want to let people know about LMK and there is a support group that is there to help you and that all the members have had a (premature baby) so we know what it's like," she said.
"It's also about creating awareness so we can raise money to get more equipment for hospitals."
Ms Baré said LMK support packs consist of a a beanies, blanket and an esky bags to store breast milk.
Pound the Pavement for Prems registrations open at 9.30am with the walk to start at 10am.
It costs $45 for a family and $20 for singles and registration a sausage sizzle, the walk and kids entertainment.
Participants will release balloons at the start of the walk in memory of premature babies who have passed away.
Participants are urged to wear purple to Sunday's event.
For more information about LMK visit www.lmk.org.au
madeleine.wines@fairfaxmedia.com.au
