'Very reassuring:' Inside Tauranga Hospital's Special Care Baby Unit

Amy McKernan holding Lucy, 2, while Charlotte lies in the Giraffe warmer at Tauranga Hospital special care baby unit. Photo / Andrew Warner

Swaddled in cloth and nestled in her mother's arms, preemie baby Charlotte McKernan is tiny.

Her parents, Te Puna residents John and Amy McKernan, keep a watchful eye on "Lottie" as she quietly sleeps in Tauranga Hospital's Special Care Baby Unit.

The moment she was born, she was immediately put onto a special piece of equipment called a Giraffe radiant warmer. It keeps Lottie warm while she is being cared for by the watchful unit staff.

"It is very reassuring to know you can go home at night and know that your child is being looked after," said Amy McKernan, a former teacher.

The couple's eldest daughter, 2-year-old Lucy, was also born prematurely and is among the 1009 babies who have stayed in the unit in the last three years.

Lottie and Lucy both came into the world small, but not just because they were premature.

Due to a rare condition, their mother is predisposed to have small and nutrient-poor placentas.

McKernan was not aware of her predisposition to have poor placentas before her first daughter was born.

"There was some apprehension that it could happen again," she said.

But Lucy is such a bundle of energy that it is clear she is like any other healthy child.

She energetically plays with the various toys in the children's rooms and hops into cupboards, opening and closing the door peek-a-boo style.

Giraffe warmers like Lottie's are one of the items that the Bay of Plenty District Health Board is asking for in this year's Countdown Hospital Appeal.

Bay of Plenty District Health Board clinical support nurse leader Maurice Chamberlain said the Countdown Appeal had donated more than $300,000 in the last three years - $94,000 in 2018, $99,440 in 2017 and $128,958 in 2016.

The equipment purchased with these funds included a Giraffe radiant warmer (cost of $60,000), a portable blood analyser (cost of $22,990), a portable patient monitor (cost of $43,495), and a Bilisoft for treating jaundiced babies (cost of $15,000).

Chamberlain said the DHB did not rely on donations to buy essential equipment.

"The reality is that in healthcare you could have a near limitless supply of money and still spend more," he said.

He said the relationship between the DHB and the Countdown Hospital Appeal as "the icing on the cake".

"The cake is very good to begin with and these items help make it even better."

FACTBOX
Tauranga Hospital special care baby unit - tools of the trade
- Tauranga Hospital has 11 warmers in total. Seven are Giraffe brand.
- Giraffe brand radiant warmers are worth around $30,000.
- The warmers provide a heat source to keep a baby warm while lying in an open bed so that nurses and doctors can provide necessary care, such as resuscitation and respiratory support.
- Warmers have inbuilt resuscitation equipment, monitors to provide continuous vital signs monitoring, procedure lights and scales to weigh sick babies without having to move them.
- Warmers also had a rotating mattress to ensure optimal positioning for procedures with minimal movement for the baby.
Source: Bay of Plenty District Health Board