Clinical Nurse Manager of the unit, Jacquie Koberstein, said Rotorua Hospital cared for premature babies if they had reached about 32 weeks. More premature babies are cared for at Lakes' tertiary provider, Waikato Hospital.
The unit cares for about 300 babies a year with 40 per cent being there because they are born too early. Ms Koberstein said extremely premature babies, those cared for in tertiary hospitals, returned to Rotorua once stable and often had a lot of issues with breathing due to their immature lung development. An infant that is born at 25 weeks may have 20 weeks in hospital.
"It's a labour of love for us. We get to know families really well. It's rewarding to build good relationships with parents and families. We teach parents how to recognise what their baby needs so when they go home they are comfortable in handling their baby and knowing if they are unwell.
"It's fantastic seeing parents who are really scared initially about how small their baby is and then sending them home confident and competent in caring for their child. It can be challenging at times, but it's really rewarding and humbling to be involved in the family's journey."
World Prematurity Day aims to raise awareness of prematurity and the concerns of preterm babies and their families worldwide because infants born preterm represent the largest child patient group. This year is the fourth worldwide awareness day for prematurity.
This year, the theme is Tiny socks, big dreams and the aim is to place the true little heroes into the centre of activities for World Prematurity Day 2014. Behind every number, there is a personal story. A story of life and a little hero who is showing the world that life is worth fighting for.
A premature birth is when a baby is born before the end of the 37th week of pregnancy. A normal pregnancy lasts 40 weeks. Premature babies generally weigh less than 2,500 grams. The lowest-weight premature baby to survive was born in 2006 in the 22nd week of the pregnancy. At that point, the baby weighed 280 grams and was 24 cm long.
World Prematurity Day is supported in New Zealand by the Neonatal Trust which supports parents by helping them in whatever way they can to get through what is usually a very traumatic time.
Neonatal Trust volunteers, the vast majority of whom have had babies in one of the country's five Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU) work to reduce the stress typically felt by families with premature or ill babies. They visit parents in the NICUs to assess individual needs, which can range from wanting access to information, to practical, financial or emotional help. They also assist the NICUs in practical ways such as purchasing or contributing to the cost of equipment and funding for staff to attend neonatal educational seminars or other professional development and to aid neonatal-related medical research.
Funding is needed in New Zealand to improve the support provided to neonatal families, the people who care for them and to fund much needed research to identify the causes of premature birth, and develop treatments and preventions.
