Gerald Lynch
Five years ago, parents of an ill newborn baby residing in Melbourne’s west faced a nervous commute into the city.
Now, they have comprehensive care in their own backyard, as the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at Joan Kirner Women’s and Children’s at Sunshine Hospital turned five last week.
Since opening in September 2019, the NICU has looked after 1128 babies, with the longest stay by a patient being 229 days between the NICU and Western Health’s newborn services.
Newborn services nurse unit manager Michelle Ryan said the centre has provided an invaluable resource to parents and their newborns in the area.
“We have a huge range of multidisciplinary teams working in the nursery, so the baby gets 24-hour medical and nursing care, and the parents are provided with access to social workers and psychologists, mental health support, as well as spiritual or pastoral care,” she said.
Ms Ryan said babies are given world class care that will set them up for a great life once they leave the NICU.
“This includes speech pathology, occupational therapists, physios, dietitians, all depending on what the baby needs,” she said.
When it opened in 2019, there were four NICU cots, which has since increased to six, and a total of 30 beds throughout the centre, but still it can be hard to keep up with the demand.
“We are always running at 90 to 100 per cent capacity, seven days a week,” Ms Ryan said.
“Prior to us opening, all of these babies with complex conditions would have instead been birthed at metropolitan hospitals, or ones born here that needed intensive care would have been transferred by ambulance to those centres, which obviously increases their chances of not surviving.
“Having this centre at Joan Kirner means that the babies are receiving the timely care they need, significantly improving their health outcomes.”
Ms Ryan has been involved with the centre since its opening, and said the best part of the job is helping families leave the hospital without leaving anyone behind.
“We’ve had a baby that weighed only 365 grams survive … We have had nearly 1200 babies come through, and to be able to care for them close to home is really nice for them and their families.”
