IT’S BUSINESS AS USUAL FOR BABIES ON THE FRONTLINE
ALISON COMYN TALKS TO THE HEROES OF THE LOURDES MATERNITY UNIT AND SOME PROUD MUMS
THE world outside may have come to a virtual standstill, but for the maternity unit of Our Lady of Lourdes hospital, it’s very much business as usual!
One of the busiest units in the country, babies don’t stop for anything, so the nurses, midwives, doctors, and many other staff on the wards have been flat out since the start of the lockdown making sure everyone is safe and healthy during these troubling times.
“We are very much open for business, for babies of all shapes and sizes,” says Catherine Griffith Colgan, nursing manager in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). “We are part of a network of hospitals with the Rotunda and Cavan, and we can take up to 20 babies, and have ventilators and respiratory support for pre-term babies - we are always ready for a sick baby, 24/7.”
She says it is very much a team effort, and staff have been upskilling to adapt to this unprecedented situation.
“We have been trained on equipment like transport incubators, so we can move babies safely between wards, and we have scrubbing up buddies, so we can help each other to be as clean as possible, which is to everyone’s advantage,” adds Catherine, who is originally from Mayo, but started in midwifery in Drogheda in 1997, and now lives here with her family. “It’s stressful, but the camaraderie here keeps us going, and as visitors are restricted, it’s an especially difficult time for the new Mums, and we have been making little videos to send to them, and putting together little booklets, with photos and memories, until they can get them home.”
Clinical Director for Maternity Services Dr Maeve Mc Cormack says the Maternity Department continues to operate a full service, albeit a little differently, in light of tthe current COVID-19 pandemic.
“Antenatal clinics, scanning and lab services continue to run with significant spacing of appointments to allow for social distancing,“she explains. “Women attending the services who are either confirmed or suspected COVID positive are tended to in a separate clinical area, to eliminate the risk of cross-infection.”
In the delivery suite partners are permitted, but no visitors to the antenatal and postnatal wards.
“Our maternity and NICU staff endeavour to keep parents and parners updates with telephone, and when possible, video updates,” she adds. “These are challenging times, but emphasis on the patient care remains central to the Maternity Services.