Melinda, how has your business made a social impact in Australia?
We’ve completely changed the landscape for families of premature and sick babies. We’ve filled a gap, working with hospitals to look after the emotional stability of the family.
The hospital where my boys were born had a followup program for extremely early babies that ended 12 months after discharge. We expanded the program across the country, and it’snow funded up to six years of age, and it’s open to premature babies of any size or week of birth.
We’ve also driven changes in the hospital system, in how they provide care. It’s a top-down, bottom-up approach. I’ve been involved in an international trial that is increasing direct parent involvement as part of the baby’s care team, really integrating parents. It has changed everything in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), from the health of the baby to the parents’ confidence, reducing depression and anxiety.
Social media has helped us open the doors to intensive care units. Previously you didn’t really see what went on in there, which made the process isolating and lonely. It has made a big difference, helping open them up for parents, so they feel like they’re not the only ones going through it.
Who inspires you? Do you have a mentor?
I don’t have a particular person, it’s more the qualities they possess. People who like to contribute, to create, have ‘that’ energy. They’re optimistic, curious and they want expansion, they want to help people, they think outside the box. They are those larger-than-life people who are getting stuff done.
What has been your biggest innovation?
In 2012, I was invited to get involved in research. With neonatal trials, it was really hard for researchers to recruit families, which meant it was taking too long to get results into practice and actually implement change.
In the past, to access families who had had a premature baby, researchers would have to go through hospital records and find people, and then go through a long ethics process. Now they can ask us and we can post a call out on Facebook and parents are overwhelmingly happy to respond.
I became the first parent to be an associate investigator on a neonatal trial and in 2018, I was the first parent in the world to become a chief investigator on a neonatal trial. In 2020, during Covid, we launched NurtureNetwork for parents who are interested in being part of research surveys. We’ve revolutionised parents being partners in trials; now organisations such as the Australian Clinical Trials Alliance (ACTA) use us as a model forother aspects of health.
And in 2022, at the Perinatal Society of Australia & New Zealand conference, some of our Miracle Babies consumer reps and I plan to put forward a system, where parents will start suggesting future research topics – that’s never happened before in the world.
What has been your hardest moment?
There was a moment when we were growing so fast nationally, and I realised we had about 12 weeks of funding left. It’s the only board meeting in my life where I’ve cried because it could have all just fallen over.
At the time, I had a conversation with one of my event managers and she pointed out that when everything’s good I say it’s “us” winning. But when things are bad, I make it all about me and take on the problem solely. That was a big turning point. I learned to let people in, to share with our supporters, our families, to be vulnerable.
I never wanted Miracle Babies to be ‘The Melinda Cruz Show’. It was always about Australia needing this organisation. I always said I want it to exist for my kids, and my kids’ kids, whether I’m involved or not. It’s bigger than me.
What motivates you to get out of bed in the morning? Do you have a morning ritual?
I can dream of being that person who gets up first thing, meditates, reads for half an hour, exercises and plans out the day. But the reality is I’m not… what really drives me every morning is the fact that I’ve got big goals and a purpose.
What do you think is at the heart of the entrepreneur?
Being part of the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year program and being around so many amazing people, one of the biggest things I’ve noticed is the optimism.
Entrepreneurs are always striving for the next thing, there’s a pull for expansion, they ask a lot of questions. (A former boss nicknamed me ‘Questions’ because I asked so many.)
When I was first nominated for the EY award, I just didn’t see myself as an entrepreneur. I imagined someone like Richard Branson, who has created something big and made millions. I actually googled the word ‘entrepreneur’ at the time, and the thing that stood out for me is that an entrepreneur is the person who takes on the risk if it fails.
It’s been an up-and-down journey for me. There have been those times when I’ve wanted to give up. Running the New York Marathon in 2014 with a team of 18 supporters to raise money for Miracle Babies hitting Central Park and feeling like I couldn’t go on, was one of those moments. That feeling where you don’t want to let people down. Now I know not to beat myself up about it – I’ve learnt giving up is never going to happen.
I won’t ever stop. It’s something inside and it doesn’t matter how tough it is, I will keep going, taking those small steps, knowing the next day those goals will still be there.
