Advanced care for newborns in Geelong

St John of God Geelong Hospital has been a leading provider of maternity services in the Greater Geelong region for decades, and the experienced nurses, midwives and obstetricians have built a reputation for exceptional, personalised care.

Outstanding clinical and compassionate care go hand in hand at St John of God Geelong Hospital – and with the recent arrival of a new donor-funded device, the hospital has been able to bring even more advanced care to new babies in the Special Care Nursery. The new device, a Transcutaneous Bilirubinometer (TcB), enables caregivers to effectively test and treat newborns with neonatal jaundice, and offers numerous benefits to newborns and their parents including less pain, reduced infection risk, and less interruption of breastfeeding, allowing mother and baby to spend more time together in the days following birth.

St John of God Geelong Hospital Associate Nurse Unit Manager, Cate Folvig (pictured, top right), said the team is already seeing the benefits of the TcB for newborns and their families.

“This is an invaluable piece of equipment,” says Cate of the TcB. “It is easy to use and accurate as an assessment method for jaundice in newborn babies.”
 
Cate also said the new device can potentially avoid the need for unnecessary blood tests, which can be invasive and delay the discharge process for families.

Penelope (pictured top left) and her new baby Primrose (inset) were one of the first families to benefit from the TcB during their four week stay in the Special Care Nursery.

Penelope was thankful that the new device made it simple and non-invasive to test Primrose, and for the donor support that made this possible.

“Thank you to the community for supporting premature babies to thrive, and providing the care needed to get them home quickly.”

The new equipment was fully funded by kind donations received at the St John of God Geelong Hospital Café Costa donation point and other gifts from the community.