Created in 2022, the Zero Separation Tour was designed to bring leading scientists to Belgian caregivers, rather than requiring the latter to travel to expensive international congresses. Over the years, the tour has welcomed experts such as Nils Bergman, Nathalie Charpak, and Stina Klemming, who visited Belgian NICUs and led practical local workshops.

The conference itself was initiated three years ago as a “grand finale” of the tour. Following the successful second conference at Brussels Erasme Hospital, the third edition focused on three main objectives:

1. Putting breastmilk at the heart of Zero Separation, highlighting its role in developmental care for our most vulnerable newborns and in strengthening parental bonding.

    

2. Bringing together the two NICUs of the historic University of Leuven and Louvain-la-Neuve, separated since the 1970s and celebrating their 600th anniversary in 2025, to co-host the conference.

    

3. Creating a program capable of attracting a broad audience of neonatal caregivers through a balance of practical advice and scientific evidence.

Thanks to valuable input from Nils Bergman and Silke Mader, an impressive longlist of world-renowned specialists was created, allowing for a strong and coherent thematic thread. The program began with nurture science, breastfeeding, mother’s milk, donor milk, and milk banks, before moving on to the microbiome, linking this to necrotising enterocolitis, and eventually concluding with the relevance of Zero Separation and the crucial role of parental involvement.

It was then time to contact the speakers on the list. If just two or three could be convinced to come to Belgium, the program would already be strong. But when the first 12 scientists were contacted by phone and email, 10 immediately agreed. In the end, the conference welcomed 11 world-class speakers.

This success brought a new challenge: how to fit 11 renowned specialists into a one-day conference without overlap. Fortunately, the organizers already had a solution. By hosting all speakers in the same hotel and organizing a pre-conference dinner, they created the opportunity for everyone to align their content in advance.

Once sponsorship, catering, accommodation for speakers, communications, and a large team of volunteers were all in place, everything was ready.

Then the venue did the rest. The organizers were exceptionally allowed to use the stunning ancient university halls, originally built in the 14th century and restored after the First World War. Their academic magnificence proved to be the perfect setting for such a meaningful event.

According to the more than 200 participants, the conference was a real success. Seeing the aula still filled with caregivers at 17:30 on a Friday before a long weekend was truly remarkable.

The day ended on a celebratory note with a wonderful food-sharing party.

The next Zero Separation Conference is already on the horizon: the 4th edition will take place in Liège on Thursday, 20 May next year.

Photo credits: Noah’s Ark Belgium and Alexandra de Biolley