“Case study: one hospital for each of our triplets - The Guardian” plus 4 more |
- Case study: one hospital for each of our triplets - The Guardian
- Hundreds of mothers of twins and triplets separated after birth ... - The Guardian
- Fire station open day in Combe Martin - North Devon Gazette & Advertiser
- Baby left in care of rapist - Age
- Cause of baby's death still unknown - NZCity
| Case study: one hospital for each of our triplets - The Guardian Posted: 27 Sep 2009 02:18 PM PDT Karen Davies, 32, a staff nurse, and partner, Adrian Jones, 42, became the parents of triplets early on 17 January last year. Ethan, Ellery and Erin were born 13 weeks prematurely at Singleton hospital, in Swansea, 35 miles from their home, and were immediately whisked into special care. Within two weeks, Erin and Ellery were well enough to be transferred to the Prince Charles hospital, in Merthyr Tydfil, which was nearer home, but only Erin was moved because the hospital lacked equipment. Soon afterwards, Ethan became ill and was moved to the University hospital of Wales, in Cardiff It was only a week that we had the babies in three different hospitals but it seemed like a lifetime. Ethan was 25 miles to the south, Ellery 35 miles to the east and Erin was five minutes away. "I was ringing around every special care baby unit every night and morning trying to decide who needed us the most. That was the only way we could do it, to be honest. You feel emotionally and physically wrecked. To decide 'who do I go and see?' – I found that the most traumatic. I wanted to see all the babies and I wanted to go to every unit on a daily basis. I was very tearful and I didn't want to leave those units. "I would express milk in the middle of the night and in the morning and then we would set off for Cardiff, 30 minutes away, because Ethan was the most poorly. He had a bleed on his brain and had to go to Cardiff where there was a surgical unit. I would see him, express [milk], spend a bit more time with him, have lunch, then drive to the Singleton. We'd see Ellery, I'd express a bit more, then back to the Prince Charles to see Erin. "Ellery could not be transferred with her because both girls needed a CPAP breathing machine and the Prince Charles hospital did not have one to spare. Meanwhile my mother and my aunt would get my milk to whichever baby they were visiting. At night I'd ring round to see if everyone was all right. "I had realised, in the back of my mind, that the babies might not stay together but never in my wildest dreams did I think they'd be in three different hospitals. Every mother would sacrifice anything for their children's safety and there are not many parents I've come across who make a great fuss over it. These units are so very busy. But in my case it wasn't staffing or beds but a lack of equipment. That could be addressed."  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Hundreds of mothers of twins and triplets separated after birth ... - The Guardian Posted: 27 Sep 2009 01:56 PM PDT  Karen Davies mother of triplets who had all 3 in different hospitals after they were born They now 20 month She lives near Merthyr Tydfil. Photograph: Gareth Phillips/Gareth Phillips Hundreds of mothers of twins and triplets are separated from their babies after birth, with up to a quarter of such families affected in some regions, according to new research. It found that across Britain, one in every eight mothers of multiples end up in different hospitals from their babies but the worst regions are the south-west, where a quarter are affected, and the south-east and Wales, where the figure is 1 in 5. Keith Reed, the executive chairman of Tamba, the Twins and Multiple Births Association, that carried out a survey of its members, said he had spoken to mothers of triplets who had all three newborns in different hospitals from where they were being treated postnatally. Mothers separated from their children reported problems with breastfeeding, with care for their premature or sick babies and many struggled emotionally. Twins and triplets are often born prematurely and require special care in baby units. Reed said: "We have had mothers who have premature babies, not knowing whether one or more is going to live or die, who are then faced with the question of how they are going to travel to see baby number one and baby number two and baby number three. Some are single mothers and if they have had a c-section they cannot drive. If it weren't for the bloody-mindedness of many parents who refuse to allow the babies to be moved, the numbers would be far higher." Tamba found that almost half of mothers of twins and 91% of those with triplets who responded to the survey said their babies required care in special baby units after birth. One woman told Tamba: "The babies were taken to another hospital within hours of the birth but I only got to follow them over 24 hours later when my husband threatened the hospital with legal action and press involvement. I spent a very lonely night all alone in a room with a morphine drip and three Polaroid pictures. My husband was with the boys as we really did not know if they would live. I just spread the pictures on my lap and sat up all night looking at them. It is a very sad memory."Reed said it was not uncommon for the parents of triplets to have all three newborns in different hospitals. He added: "The effect it has on mothers is not just immediate but can leave them emotionally and psychologically scarred for life. It is such an utterly despairing profound experience. I've spoken to mothers years and years after they have gone through such experiences and they still cannot talk about it. There has to be a better way of managing multiple births and matching them with cots in neonatal units." Tamba found that the rate of postnatal depression is far higher among mothers of multiples, at 17%, compared to 10% of all women with children under the age of one. Reed hopes that the research, which has been submitted to the government's task force on neo-natal care, will strengthen the case for more cot spaces and more specialised neo-natal doctors and nurses. The task force, set up after criticism over NHS care of vulnerable babies by the National Audit Office and the Public Accounts Committee, is due to report on the issue next month. Andy Cole, of Bliss, the premature baby charity, said the problem stemmed from a lack of cot spaces and not enough trained neonatal nurses and doctors. Cole said: "There's been a huge increase in the birth rate and the survival rate of premature babies is improving, so more babies are being admitted into neo-natal care." The charity's own research has estimated an even higher number of mothers of multiples separated from their babies after birth, at 30%. Cole said: "Whether it's 12 or 30% or somewhere in the middle, it's way too high." He added: "The doctors and nurses on neonatal units do very well in terms of care but the system is not very well set up to support families."Justin Konje, professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at the University of Leicester, said: "It is clearly not ideal to have families separated. The most severe consequences would be the bonding and the psychological consequences on a mother having to travel from one to another.""Maternity care is 24 hour [like] accident and emergency, and you may have a woman on a labour ward who is due to give birth to premature twins and two cot spaces are available in special care – but then you have another woman who comes in and delivers one baby at 28 weeks and that baby has to take up one of the cots. Its a juggling act. If you talk to most obstetricians and gynaecologists, however, they would say there is room for improvement." A Department of Health spokesperson said: "We are committed to providing mothers and babies with safe, high quality neo-natal services and have made neonatal services a top priority for the NHS as outlined in the operating framework. Spending on neonatal services increased from £655 million in 2003/04 to £802 million in 2006/07 - an increase of 22 per cent. "The NHS locally has a responsibility to plan maternity and newborn care together to optimise the matching of capacity and demand so that mother and baby are not separated if they need intensive care. "While the majority of mothers who have multiple births are not separated, the unpredictable timing of delivery means that sometimes it is impossible to avoid transfer to another hospital." Tamba surveyed 1,363 mothers of multiples (1,298 mothers of twins and 68 mothers of triplets) who have had babies over the last five years. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Fire station open day in Combe Martin - North Devon Gazette & Advertiser Posted: 27 Sep 2009 01:32 AM PDT
dave.tanner@archant.co.uk
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| Baby left in care of rapist - Age Posted: 21 Sep 2009 06:54 AM PDT CHILD protection authorities allowed a baby girl to live with her heroin-addicted mother and a convicted rapist for six weeks, the Department of Human Services has admitted. The baby's grandmother, who now has the baby in her care, has criticised the department for not removing the baby from the house when it became aware of the situation last year. ''They just let her stay there and they knew about his conviction,'' she said. The baby was not harmed and The Age believes the man's conviction was not related to a child offence, and occurred many years ago. But the department was concerned about the arrangement and ''strongly advised'' the woman to leave the man's house. Details of the case have emerged after the Ombudsman last week criticised the department for taking 17 days to respond after it became aware that two young boys were living with a convicted child sex offender. State Community Services Minister Lisa Neville conceded to The Age that the department had taken too long to intervene in this latest case. ''This really highlights a system under pressure. They took action but it was delayed action,'' she said. ''Given that the department assessed that they thought the mother and child would be better moving to another place, that required them to do that as quickly as possible. Their assessment was that there was risk, and they should have acted.'' The Age believes the department does not have a categorical policy that any time a parent is living with a sex offender their child must be removed. A spokesman for the department said the court had given the woman care of her child. ''Workers are faced with having to make difficult judgments about risk all the time, and in this case the partner did not have a record for any sort of child sex offence,'' he said.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Cause of baby's death still unknown - NZCity Posted: 27 Sep 2009 10:07 AM PDT Police treating death of 22-month-old Morrinsville girl as suspicious until results of post mortem examination available
The 22-month-old was flown to Waikato Hospital's Intensive Care Unit on Saturday afternoon and died that night. Police are treating the death as homicide until a cause can be established. A number of people are being interviewed by police. Last night, security staff remained at the rented Studholme St home where the child lived with her parents and a scene investigation continues today. Police are expected to release more details about the investigation this morning. The baby is the third to die in suspicious circumstance in two months. © 2009 NZCity, NewsTalkZB |
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