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YOU ARE HELPING OUR TINIEST PATIENTS We are privileged to be involved with some of these families at a time when these babies are extremely vulnerable. Survival has definitely improved over the last 10-20 years and these families, and many of these babies go on to have very meaningful, full lives, although more funding is always needed for further research. Dr Melissa Lai, RBWH Neonatologist and Researcher
Bundaberg mother, Anna Holden, was warned early in her pregnancy it was unlikely she would carry her much anticipated twins to full-term. Nothing, though, prepared her to welcome them eight weeks early. Rushed to RBWH, Anna’s main concern was for her unborn pigeon pair, Bobby and Marylou, but it was Anna who was also at risk. Within two days of arriving at RBWH, her twins were born by emergency caesarean and Anna was in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) with pre-eclampsia and pulmonary edema. Anna had been transferred from Bundaberg Hospital because its Special Care Nursery is only able to treat premature babies born around 34 weeks. It was a potentially lifesaving decision. Bobby and Marylou both needed treatment in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), with Marylou requiring Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP), a type of respiratory support which helped conserve her energy so she could put on weight. After eight weeks of care and a few setbacks, including hernia operations, the twins and Anna were able to return home healthy and well.
Supporting Research to Save Tiny Lives Anna Holden’s preterm twins are among 1600 premature and sick babies admitted every year to the RBWH Grantley Stable Neonatal Unit (GSNU) for specialist care and management. Any baby born less than 37 week’s gestation, or which requires diagnosis and care for surgical, genetic or breathing problems, will be cared for by this incredible team. And these tiny fighters are given greater odds than ever, thanks to the RBWH’s Perinatal Research Centre.
Since opening in 1992 as an initiative of RBWH Foundation, the Centre has established itself as Australia’s premier research centre for pre-term births, focusing on improving the survival rate of premature and seriously ill babies, and quality of life for both the baby and mother. Eighty-f ive per cent of babies born twelve weeks premature now survive thanks to the life saving work of Perinatal Research Centre staff and the hospital’s Grantley Stable Neonatal Unit.
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