Telethon donates lifesaving ventilators to preterm babies at FSH

Fiona Stanley Hospital (FSH) Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) recently received funding for four new baby ventilators which gives premature and extremely sick newborn babies, their families and treatment teams, access to the latest and gentlest technology.

This was made possible by a significant donation of almost $300,000 from Telethon.

In Australia around 10 per cent of all newborns are pre-term, arriving well before 37 weeks gestation.

FSH Neonate Head of Service, Mangesh Deshmukh, said the new ventilators support these tiny babies with their breathing and make sure even the most fragile infants receive the highest-quality care.

“This advanced ventilation with latest technology provides the gentlest yet effective ventilation support for these premature unwell babies which helps to protect the lungs. This is achieved by optimising lung volume and limiting excessive lung expansion,” Mangesh said.

“There’s nothing better than seeing the care we provide these little ones giving them the best possible start to their lives – the relief and joy we get to see on the faces of their parents is what we want to see every day.”

Mum Kiera has put into her own words what it was like to spend the first eight weeks of her daughter’s life in the FSH NICU.

Thanks to the new ventilator, Athena was given the best possible start for respiratory development. Without it, her progress would have looked very different.

“She’s not ready to be here yet”

Athena was born on 24 May at just 28 weeks and 3 days via emergency c-section, weighing just 890 grams. We missed the third trimester. 

For John and I, the birth of our first child was not what we had expected. It had been a healthy pregnancy where everything had been going well - until the 20 week scan.

Then we were told that our baby was two weeks smaller than gestation. Fortnightly ultrasounds were scheduled to measure baby’s growth, and the diagnosis at that point was intrauterine growth restriction, most likely from placental issues.

As weeks progressed, my blood pressure started to rise and the term pre-eclampsia was first mentioned as a possibility for baby’s restricted growth. 

I was hospitalised for a week with severe early onset preeclampsia, during which our care team conducted multiple ultrasounds each week, monitoring her growth and the worsening condition of my placenta. 

Pre-eclampsia is a hypertensive disorder characterised by high blood pressure and excessive protein in the urine.

It can lead to serious complications for Mum and baby, including high blood pressure and signs of damage to other organs. High blood pressure can cause seizures and stroke.

At 27 weeks and 6 days, we were told to prepare for an early delivery of between 30 – 32 weeks. I received the third trimester vaccines and two steroid injections to help her lungs develop.

By that afternoon, pain in my upper abdomen and a spike in liver markers and protein in my urine narrowed the window to 29 – 30 weeks. By the next day, it was down to a day-by-day basis. 

The morning of 24 May I ended up in the emergency department with severe hypertension, a swollen face and hand, and increasing pain and muscle soreness in my chest, shoulder and upper back.

Whilst not heart related, John and I were informed that this was likely one of the symptoms of Hemolysis, Elevated Liver enzymes and Low Platelets, known as HELLP syndrome. 

HELLP, if not monitored, can lead to multi organ failure. My heart was checked, and clotting in lungs was checked. Baby was still bearing the brunt of the attack from pre-eclampsia as her growth slowed more and more due to lack of blood flow and oxygen. 

That evening, my blood pressure spiked again despite multiple blood pressure medications. Within minutes, the room filled with midwives, anaesthetists, obstetricians, and NICU staff. We were told that our baby had to be born within the hour. 

John was handed scrubs. I told John I wasn’t ready to meet her yet. John responded, "she’s not ready to be here".

The operating theatre was a blur – a large team moving quickly and professionally. A NICU team waited in the corner. Her birth was swift. They held her up over the curtain, and we both held our breath at how impossibly small she was. 

She was worked on and rushed to the NICU. There was no skin-to-skin. No golden hour. John followed her. I didn’t meet our daughter until nearly 12 hours later as my symptoms were monitored and controlled. 

Weighing just 890 grams, Athena was immediately placed in the new NICU ventilator. This would help Athena with her breathing and gently protect her very delicate pre-term lungs and brain development.

It enabled a smooth and steady transition through ventilation, to CPAP, to high flow and ultimately to breathing independently.

Athena was given her name after the warrior goddess, a symbol of strength and wisdom. It was our hopes for her wrapped up in a name. We wanted her to have a fighting name for the fight she had ahead. 

I stayed a further five days in hospital to manage my pre-eclampsia. I would visit baby Athena in a wheelchair while the midwives helped me as we waited for my milk to come in.

Her journey began surrounded by tubes, monitors, and machines. Every gram she gained mattered. Every extra millilitre through the feeding tube was a triumph. Her nappies were too big. Her nose bore the imprint of her breathing mask. 

After a few days, we were gifted skin-to-skin “kangaroo cuddles” each day - where she’d be carefully placed on our chest, bundled up, and we’d remain still, soaking in the only closeness we were able to safely have. 

It became my mission to supply milk to help Athena to grow stronger. Athena was fed one millilitre every couple of hours, it was increased by another millilitre and gradually she was able to have more and more milk.

It felt like the one thing I could still do for her when I felt that my body had failed her. 

Every meal mattered. We were fortunate that despite Athena’s size and gestation she thrived on the outside.

It was confronting but with the team’s support we gradually moved in the right direction. 

Athena spent eight weeks in the FSH NICU and went home on 21 July, two weeks short of her due date. We now return with Athena to the hospital every fortnight to monitor her development.

The medical team did everything for her to be here and because of them everything went right. Athena’s NICU journey was smooth, and she was able to come home earlier than expected. We attribute this to the ventilator and the exceptional care, knowledge and support of the NICU team.

We are sincerely and profoundly thankful and we want the life changing impact of this technology, and the expertise and dedication of the NICU staff, to be recognised and celebrated.

We are endlessly grateful to the NICU “aunties” who watched over her day and night, and so proud of our daughter, whose first adjectives from the nurses were “spirited” and “feisty.” 

We are extremely grateful to the medical teams on the weeks and night of her delivery who were thorough, calm and swift. We also hold deep gratitude for our family, who walked every step of that fragile beginning with us. 

The support of the hospital and support of our community carried us through.

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