In Australia, musician writes ballad about his son's stay in intensive care
In Australia, Central Queensland musician Trent Richardson wrote the ballad Promise You Now about his experience of becoming a parent after his son Archie spent more than two months in a neonatal intensive care unit in Brisbane. ABC News Australia reports.
Archie was born in August 2025 by emergency caesarean section. Soon after birth, he was separated from his mother and flown to Brisbane. Richardson said he was frightened when he saw his son connected to medical equipment.
A song about the family’s experience
The 25-year-old performer wrote the song to share what he had gone through and connect with other parents whose children had received treatment in neonatal intensive care units. Richardson said that after the song was recently released, he received a great deal of support from families with similar experiences.
The musician noted that he had been advised to seek therapeutic help, but writing and performing songs became his way of coping with what he had experienced.
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At the unit, Archie was diagnosed with a rare condition — septo-optic dysplasia. According to his father, the condition caused the boy difficulties related to his brain, vision and coordination. The musician’s partner, Gabby Nielsen, called the stay in the neonatal intensive care unit an overwhelming experience and said the song brought her to tears.
Support for parents
Brisbane obstetrician-gynaecologist and University of Queensland researcher Alka Kothari, who studies the experiences of parents and partners after traumatic births, said that about one in five babies in Australia is admitted to a special care unit or neonatal intensive care unit. According to her, unforeseen complications arise in about one-third of pregnancies.
Kothari stressed the importance of mutual support among parents and the need to involve partners more broadly in perinatal care, including by providing mental health screening and support. Archie, who has turned one, will continue to have difficulties related to his condition, but, according to his father, he is already moving around actively and can find a spoon and a pacifier.
