AROUND THE ROYAL
Every day at The Royal patients and families are provided with care that is world class.
Below is just a snapshot of the incredible care and inspiration that comes out of a place of such excellence.
MOTHER'S HEALING POWER OF TOUCH
Most parents would be understandably nervous to change their newborn's nappy for the first time. But Jodie Harris, seeing her premature baby wreathed in tubes and drips inside an incubator, felt frightened.
"I was scared to touch her; Georgia was tiny and covered in wires and the thought of fumbling my way through and lifting up her bottom was too much," she said.
It was only when nurses in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU) laid pink-skinned Georgia – born at 32 weeks and weighing just 975 grams – on Jodie's chest for "kangaroo cuddles" that her fears disappeared.
"As soon as she felt me, she stopped crying and curled up into her foetal position. She just knows the voices, the heartbeat, and that's what they need to grow, not just nutrients, but love."
Parents at The Royal's NICU – the largest in NSW – are encouraged to get hands-on with the care of their fragile, premature babies, taking on some of the roles normally reserved for nurses, under an emerging model of care called Family Integrated Care (FIC).
Even if their baby is no bigger than a tub of butter, they are taught to wash, weigh and change nappies, as well as take their temperature and feed them using tiny syringes, in a bid to improve health outcomes.
The study, published in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health this year, found premature babies thrived under this model of care, putting on an average of two grams a day more than those receiving standard care.
"Two grams a day is quite substantial when these babies are only about one kilo," said Professor Kei Lui, the NICU's co-director.
"Traditionally, parents were bystanders, they didn't touch them too often because of germs, they stared at their baby lying inside the glasshouse, but now we know getting them involved is good for everyone."
The Royal is a leader in pioneering clinical models of care. To support programs like Family Integrated Care please, click here.
SHIRLEY CELEBRATES 90
The last place you probably expect to spend your 90th birthday is in hospital having chemotherapy, but that’s exactly what happened for Shirley Keegan recently.
“Fancy getting to this stage, and needing all this attention,” the mother of two and grandmother of 13 said as she blew out the candles of her cake at The Royal Hospital for Women in Randwick.
Wearing a hand-knitted cardigan and bright red lipstick, Shirley lit up the oncology ward with her trademark 1000-watt smile that has made her beloved amongst staff and fellow patients.
“When the doctor told me I had ovarian cancer and that he’d need to operate and I’d need chemotherapy, I said, ‘Bring it on’,” Shirley said.
“I’ve always believed in facing up to what has to be done. The care I’ve received here has been out of this world. ”
LOGIES WINNER STRIKES GOLD AT HOME
SBS TV star Hazem Shammas and his partner Suzannah announced the early arrival of their baby son Zef when Hazem accepted a Logie for Outstanding Supporting Actor.
The couple have left a little bit of their hearts at the Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at The Royal Hospital for Women, where Zef spent the first six weeks of his life.
As Hazem gave his Logie acceptance speech, he left no-one in the room in any doubt about where his heart was.
“I want to take a quick moment to just send a thank you to my beautiful family,” Hazem told the glamorous crowd. “We’ve just welcomed a brand new baby boy into the world. He’s about nine weeks premature and …I wanted to send my thank you to the amazing nurses at the NICU at The Royal Hospital in Randwick. You guys are the real heroes, thank you.”
In the NICU, the staff put up a sign on Zef’s crib that read: “My Daddy won a Logie.”
Of particular help to Suzannah was been the five to six hours of skin to skin contact with Zef, endorsed by the Newborn Intensive Care Unit.
“Holding him every day really calmed both our nervous systems,” she said.
“There were a lot of tears when I realised this was not going to be smooth sailing, but once we did, we were so grateful for the extraordinary care we’ve received.”
If you would like to support the incredible work in caring for premature babies at The Royal, you can make a donation to directly support the NICU, click here.
WISH LIST ITEMS
Thanks to the generosity of individual and corporate donors, we have been able to provide The Royal Hospital for Women 32 pieces of funded equipment and programs in the last two months. Many of these are vital to ongoing innovation and the healthcare for women and babies at The Royal and in the community.
To view our wishlist items, click here.
LUNCH AND LEARN
The Royal Hospital for Women Foundation has partnered with One Farrer Place (Governor Phillip Tower and Governor Macquarie Tower) to take The Royal to the city and deliver talks at Dexus Place on a wide range of health matters to the 6,000 people located within the 120 businesses at One Farrer Place. Through Dexus, the Lunch and Learn series is also available to businesses located in the nearby locations of the MLC Centre and Australia Square.
Our first talk 'Fertility Insights' was held in August with Professor Bill Ledger, sharing the science and facts behind fertility preservation and reproductive medicine with heartfelt honesty on how and when to consider your options at various ages. This will be followed by Dr Rebecca Deans in September on 'Understanding Adolescent Girls' and talks to continue monthly on a wide range of health topics. To learn more and register to join us at these talks please click here.
