what to expect/tips/ any info appreciated....

[Tegam]

its not going to be a fun trip as its in the hospital i delivered G at so im kinda avoiding it at all costs atm, well until i know i HAVE to go there....

It will be hard but it would be worth having a look before hand to see whats what.

Also the hospital you ARE booked into...What gestational age will they let bub stay there??

[crumpet]

I would talk with your OB who should be able to organise a trip to the NICU for you x

thanks sally ill speak to him at my next appt...

It will be hard but it would be worth having a look before hand to see whats what.

Also the hospital you ARE booked into...What gestational age will they let bub stay there??

yep i see what u mean, im better of seeing it before she ends up there....just incase.

34weeks i have to be for them to accept us....
but if she comes at say 31 we go to the other hospital and as far as i know they wont transfer her to our private one when she can go to that level of special care coz we are close to both if that makes sense....is that even how it would work? im happy for her to stay at the hospy with the NICU and SCU if we deliver there till she comes home

[Early Kids]

Depends on the hospital and how full the NICU/SCN is at the time. Both times we were in they were virtually pushing bubs out the door to another hospital because the NICU was so full of babies. Doesn't help that's it's the only hospital in the state that takes babies less than 34 weeks gestation either (except for the Children's Hospital which generally only takes the really sick and surgery bubs). It's best to ask your private hospital of the what if, ask them what criteria they have for a transfer. For instance my local hospital will only take babies after 2kg, with no tubes or monitors, when they are ready to go home anyway.

[crumpet]

we are in melb and there is the mercy ( where we will go) the royal womens, monash medical center and the royal childrens all with NICU's so hopefully if we need it they will have room at the mercy...

is it the same with special care? being less.... well intensive as such?

ill add these to my list of Q's for my OB when i see him.....

and ill ask the middie at ante natal classes on tuesday what the criteria is for her to be transfered there if need be.....

thank you again so much for all the information

[Early Kids]

Intensive care babies have one nurse to two babies, they are generally on some sort of breathing support.
Special Care babies have one nurse to 5-6 babies.

There is also a HDU (High Dependency Unit) I'm not entirely sure on the criteria for that unit, I *thought* that it was for those who were on breathing support for ages. But a couple of my friends babies went to HDU and they were on less support than Brendan was so then I *thought* it might have been based on weight, but then a friends baby born heavier and on less breathing support went there! So Im not really sure on that at all any more!

At KEMH in Perth, all the units are together in one nursery, there's 4 rooms, one for each level of care all in one big unit. However when we were there June 09 they were doing renovations to move the SCN, I believe it is now the NICU is seperate from the SCN but I could be wrong.

[csab]

Crumpet, I was going to post something similar hun. JIC. Yet I am hoping that bub wont need to come early, but I think it is better to be prepared. Hoping and praying that your little princess stays in until after 34wks, that would be so wonderful. Just behave yourself..... Im going to send lots of sticky sticky vibes and for those stitches to stay tight and your cervix lots of keep closed vibes too. Hang in there hun, you really are doing a wonderful job. hugs

Sally - that was really interesting. I know when Little V was in ICU at the childrens hospital she was on high dependancy ventilators and was isolated from all others. The nurse that was assigned to her only looked after her. So only ever one bub / child at a time. when she was able to be moved from isolation and placed on the less high dependancy ventilator, she was then assigned to a nurse that looked after 2 bubs.

[crumpet]

Intensive care babies have one nurse to two babies, they are generally on some sort of breathing support.
Special Care babies have one nurse to 5-6 babies.

There is also a HDU (High Dependency Unit) I'm not entirely sure on the criteria for that unit, I *thought* that it was for those who were on breathing support for ages. But a couple of my friends babies went to HDU and they were on less support than Brendan was so then I *thought* it might have been based on weight, but then a friends baby born heavier and on less breathing support went there! So Im not really sure on that at all any more!

At KEMH in Perth, all the units are together in one nursery, there's 4 rooms, one for each level of care all in one big unit. However when we were there June 09 they were doing renovations to move the SCN, I believe it is now the NICU is seperate from the SCN but I could be wrong.

wow another section thanks for that info as well sally....
i *think* at the mercy the NICU and SCU are on different levels, ill have to really sus it all out.....

Crumpet, I was going to post something similar hun. JIC. Yet I am hoping that bub wont need to come early, but I think it is better to be prepared. Hoping and praying that your little princess stays in until after 34wks, that would be so wonderful. Just behave yourself..... Im going to send lots of sticky sticky vibes and for those stitches to stay tight and your cervix lots of keep closed vibes too. Hang in there hun, you really are doing a wonderful job. hugs

Sally - that was really interesting. I know when Little V was in ICU at the childrens hospital she was on high dependancy ventilators and was isolated from all others. The nurse that was assigned to her only looked after her. So only ever one bub / child at a time. when she was able to be moved from isolation and placed on the less high dependancy ventilator, she was then assigned to a nurse that looked after 2 bubs.

thanks hun!! u rest up as well we both need to keep baking a bit longer!

[Tegam]

Intensive care babies have one nurse to two babies, they are generally on some sort of breathing support.
Special Care babies have one nurse to 5-6 babies.

The babies start off being one on one and as they get better it can go to more babies. The most a RN would have in a NICU is 4 babies! Can you imagine what its like to have 4 babies due to be fed at the same time hehe!

The most i have ever had on my own in a SCN is 4 and as a professional i would nurse any more than that. It depends on if you are in a state or private hospital as to the guide lines!

[Early Kids]

As I pointed out before I can only go on my own experiences with KEMH in Perth, in which NICU was 1 nurse to two babies (there were a couple of babies that came through which needed more intense care and they were assigned one nurse only - there are always exceptions). The HDU in KEMH had babies on oxygen (or not) they had to be off the ventilator AND/OR CPAP before they were moved from NICU to SCN or HDU (again there were some exceptions to this).

NICU had 2 main parts, the main room and an overflow which was in the back of SCN. SCN had 3 areas, the main room (where they went after NICU) and then an 'almost home' room which also had an overflow. The 'almost home' part of the SCN was 1 nurse to 5-6 babies, we were in a room with about 12-14 babies and there was often only 2 nurses and the co-ordinator. Again this was back in June 2009 and they have done renovations since and I have not been back.

It really is worth sussing out the hospital you are going to, because in my experience from talking to other NICU mums, each and every NICU is different. Even some of the equipment was slightly different.