{"id":16488,"date":"2023-11-27T10:35:42","date_gmt":"2023-11-27T02:35:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/friends\/?page_id=16488"},"modified":"2024-12-11T10:10:56","modified_gmt":"2024-12-11T02:10:56","slug":"family-time-proves-best-medicine-for-premature-babies-1","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/friends\/curtin-commons\/blog-page\/family-time-proves-best-medicine-for-premature-babies-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Family time the perfect formula for prem babies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

28\/11\/2023. By Carmelle Wilkinson<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"John<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

2023 John Curtin Medallist Joanne Beedie.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Joanne Beedie and her husband Scott found out they were pregnant with identical twins seven years ago, they thought they had won the lottery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the rare occurrence happening in just three to four births in every 1000, this year\u2019s John Curtin Medallist<\/a> said she felt like the luckiest person in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elated to be giving their two-year-old son Archie not one but two younger brothers, Joanne breezed through the first trimester with ease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is, until a routine scan at 17 weeks, revealed Joanne had Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome, a rare disease impacting 10-15% of identical twin pregnancies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t help but feel extremely unlucky in that moment,\u2019\u2019 she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDespite having surgery the very next day at King Edward Memorial Hospital (KEMH), we lost one of our boys, Logan, at just 21 weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Six weeks later, on Easter Sunday, Joanne was rushed to hospital with excruciating pain radiating into her upper back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite some rest and a little morphine, the pain intensified.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was a total blur, one minute I was in terrible pain and the next I felt like I needed the toilet and when I reached down, I could feel the top of Lewis\u2019s head,\u2019\u2019 she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI remember hitting the alarm and screaming for help.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few minutes later her twins were born, and Lewis was rushed to the neonatal care unit, where he spent the next few days fighting for his little life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sadly, Joanne\u2019s story isn\u2019t isolated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each year in WA, about 2200 babies are born preterm and admitted to KEMH\u2019s neonatal intensive care unit, requiring life-saving treatment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDuring Lewis\u2019 time in the NICU, and with the help of the amazing medical team, he battled on, beating challenge after challenge, putting on gram after gram,\u2019\u2019 Joanne said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe celebrated events like coming off jaundice lights, reaching 2 kgs, moving off breathing support, his first bath, removing the feeding tube and trying on his first baby kilt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAfter twelve and a half weeks in hospital, we were finally able to bring Lewis home to meet his big brother Archie.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Joanne, Scott and Archie Beedie, ready to take Lewis home from hospital.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joanne said watching him go from strength to strength, wolfing down his food and developing his infectious laugh, got her thinking could they possibly turn their traumatic experience into something positive?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard to put into words exactly how impactful and difficult that time was. But we didn\u2019t want Lewis\u2019s first weeks of life to define him or the unimaginable grief of losing a child to swallow us up,\u2019\u2019 she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe wanted to take what we had learned on our NICU journey and really help other families facing a similar challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With that \u2013 Helping Little Hands<\/a> was born.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Founded by Joanne and Scott and fellow NICU parents Kate and Adam, the charity delivers a range of family-centred services to assist parents on their NICU journeys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Providing both emotional and practical support, Joanne said Helping Little Hands acknowledged that the best medicine for a premature and sick baby was time with their parents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFrom experience we know that this is a very difficult and stressful time for families, so any assistance, whether that\u2019s a petrol or fuel voucher, a warm meal or financial assistance to purchase items like a car seat can ease some of this pressure,\u2019\u2019 she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe also found from our own time at NICU that parents spend hours at their child\u2019s crib side and forget to eat.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With that in mind, one of the first services introduced through Helping Hands, was Dinner\u2019s Ready<\/a>, created with support from local Wembley business Blue Spoon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Targeted at long-stay families, with other children at home, isolated from extended family or under financial stress, Dinner\u2019s Ready provides families with delicious and nutritious meals, snap-frozen and ready to reheat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe service alleviates the stress of supermarket visits and cooking, and gives families more time with their babies,\u2019\u2019 Joanne said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Helping Little Hands also keep parents well nourished, by refreshing the parent lounges at KEMH, Perth Children\u2019s Hospital and Royal Darwin Hospital with complimentary fresh sandwiches, healthy snacks, fruit, soup packet and coffee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Joanne<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Joanne with a family at King Edward Memorial Hospital.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joanne said while every parent\u2019s NICU journey may be different, it was important they knew they there weren\u2019t alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOver our twelve weeks at KEMH we saw many parents come and go. Some just for a few days while others were just starting their long-haul journey,\u2019\u2019 she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019d move around each other about eight to ten hours a day. Many juggling work and family life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joanne said sitting there every day watching her little boy under the bright lights with tubes, then seeing happy families walking into the main hospital ward with balloons welcoming a new arrival, would tug at her heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was really painful to see, especially when we were struggling,\u2019\u2019 she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking back on that period, Joanne finds it hard not to get choked up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI know we aren\u2019t the only ones to go through something like this. And you only have to ask around to hear stories about other babies who started their life at KEMH NICU,\u2019\u2019 she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now a mum of five, Joanne\u2019s commitment and compassion in helping families with a premature or sick baby through the rollercoaster of their neonatal journey\u2019s earned her the prestigious John Curtin Medal at the university\u2019s Alumni Awards<\/a> this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was an absolute honour to be recognised at such a wonderful event, with Curtin\u2019s most talented and successful alumni,\u2019\u2019 she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was incredibly humbling standing in their presence. It was an evening of reality pinching as I heard my name, work and qualities aligned with those of John Curtin himself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Joanne
.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Joanne Beedie being awarded the John Curtin Medal at the 2023 Curtin Alumni Awards.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joanne said her professional and personal drive was fuelled knowing Helping Little Hands were making a tangible and lasting impact on the families they support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWho knew delivering homemade gingerbread cookies to the doctors, nurses and staff at KEMH on Christmas Day that first year Lewis came home, would evolve into the charity it is today,\u2019\u2019 she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy children are also immersed in the charity, helping deliver food or label items. I like to think we are helping set a good example as a family and showing them the importance of having good values.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joanne said taking Lewis with her on deliveries was a beautiful encouragement to other parents, showing them, it does it get better, and your child can leave hospital one day and lead a normal happy life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLewis is the kindest, sweetest and funniest seven-year-old,\u201d she laughed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe has an emotional understanding beyond his years and has this quiet determination, which says a lot about his character.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA couple years ago he ran his first cross country at school, and despite being at the back of pack, he never gave up. Running the entire kilometre race at his own pace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe knows he\u2019s a twin and often asks about Logan, which isn\u2019t easy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joanne said her children often talk about him and every year place a special bauble with his name on their Christmas tree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe will always be a part of our family, so we feel it\u2019s important to acknowledge him in a sincere way,\u2019\u2019 she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Joanne, Scott and their children place a special bauble for Lewis on their Christmas tree each year.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through Helping Little Hands, Joanne is currently advocating to change the proposed location of Perth\u2019s new NICU.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since its announcement earlier this year, senior clinicians from several WA hospitals have condemned plans to relocate Perth\u2019s new maternity hospital to Murdoch, citing doing so would force doctors \u201cto work in conditions of unacceptable risk\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meetings between WA Health Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson, WA Health Director General David Russell-Weisz and staff at PCH, KEMH, Osborne Park and Fiona Stanley hospitals remain ongoing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more information please visit the Helping Little Hands website<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

___<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n \n\n

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