An inspiring business that gives parents the chance to have special moments with their premature babies has been featured on a new ITV show.
SuperDinky, based in West Bridgford, started trading in 2022 after mum Lorna Tallowin and neonatal nurse Beth Morris joined forces to create vests fit for premature babies.
The idea was proposed to Lorna by Beth, who was one of the nurses who took care of Caden, Lorna's son, while he was in hospital for six weeks after being born at 31 weeks in 2019.
Beth, who'd worked in neonatal nursing for 12 years, had never seen "good quality, well-fitting" premature baby clothes that were joyful but also worked in a medical setting.
Lorna, who studied fashion at Nottingham Trent University, said: "I was a first-time mum and all those special moments I'd imagined couldn't happen.
"You can't take the baby home, you can't breastfeed them, you can't even stroke them because they're so fragile.
"You miss so many of these first moments, including dressing your baby for the first time.
"One of our customers waited two months to dress their baby and it's a very special moment that gives parents that feeling of ownership.
"To have medical staff do everything feels quite disempowering sometimes and being able to dress your baby in something that's the right size and actually fits them is so special."
Since the business was launched, SuperDinky has dressed about 800 tiny babies and has since expanded into selling toddler and adult clothes to celebrate milestones, and awareness days such as World Prematurity Day.
Lorna, 40, said: "We want to celebrate the journey people have been on because, while having a premature baby is a unique experience to each family, it's not a rare one.
"Giving birth prematurely was very scary. I didn't think my baby was going to survive. I didn't hold him or touch him [after giving birth]. He was immediately taken away to the neonatal intensive care unit.
"We only got to meet him many hours later and when we went in [the NICU] we didn't even know which incubator held my baby. It was a very jarring experience."
The smallest vests can dress babies from 1.5 pounds - smaller than a bag of sugar - and are the size of a postcard.
They are designed to fit around medical equipment such as a breathing apparatus, wires and cannulas.
Lorna explained that she didn't expect SuperDinky to be selected as one of the businesses featured on ITV's new show, Be Your Own Boss.
The programme sees Holly Tucker, founder of Not On The High Street and Holly & Co, visiting entrepreneurs who have been trading for some time but are unsure how to take their next step, giving them advice to unlock their full potential.
Lorna said: "It was amazing to be on Be Your Own Boss. I didn't expect to be selected. I read both of Holly Tucker's books and was already using them to guide the business.
"My Instagram community tagged her and they decided to give me a call back. It was brilliant to get her insight on the direction of the business because we've been growing but very gradually.
"I feel like our business wasn't growing fast enough to keep going indefinitely. She said the product is amazing and said our problem was the fact people were gifting the product rather than buying it for themselves because people are finding us too late.
"Her suggestion was to do a product journey for premature families. So instead of just a vest, we could do a homecoming outfit and then a T-shirt for World Prematurity Day, for example."
The business also runs a pay-it-forward initiative called Parcels of Hope, through which people can gift tiny vests to families in hospitals across the UK.