Critically ill babies heading home just in time for Christmas!

Critically ill babies heading home  just in time for Christmas!

After a challenging year that has seen many families separated with no end in sight, the best present many are hoping for this Christmas is to spend time together as a family—and for the parents of critically ill and premature babies, heading home in time for Christmas is all they are wishing for.

From babies born as early as 20 weeks premature, through to those born with life-threatening conditions, our Neonatal Critical Care Unit cares for more than 2000 of the country’s seriously ill and premature babies each year who can be in hospital for up to 100 days.

This Christmas, the expert team at Mater Mothers are hoping a number of these little lives will be well enough to enjoy Christmas Day back home with family, spending each day giving them that extra little bit of care as their families’ countdown to the big day. 

Little baby Jazmine’s family is hopeful she is fighting fit to come home to her very expectant household, after 41 days in hospital following being born at just 31 weeks old.

With two step-siblings eagerly awaiting her arrival at home, Jazmine’s mum Zofia is beyond excited to take her beautiful baby girl home, following a dramatic end to her pregnancy after being diagnosed with pre-eclampsia.

“Once I was diagnosed with pre-eclampsia, the doctors explained to me that Jazmine could come at any time, so I was carefully monitored and spent a lot of time on bed rest trying to give Jazmine that best chance at staying healthy and growing strong,” Zofia said.

“When she finally arrived, she was so tiny weighing just 1223 grams but since then we have just been so excited to bring her home. We didn’t think we would be home with her for Christmas, so we can’t wait to spend the day relaxing as a family, and for me to get used to being a new mum.”

For first time parents Jess and Emma, bringing baby Ellie home would be the cherry on top for their Christmas after their journey to reach this point.

“We struggled a lot to get baby Ellie here and had a lot of trouble getting pregnant, then after that my pregnancy was pretty difficult. The doctors were quite concerned about Ellie’s size when she was measuring at 25 weeks but should have been 27 weeks and 2 days,” Ellie’s mum Jess explained. 

“Then my blood pressure really started to sky rocket and we had to deliver Ellie at just over 28 weeks which was really frightening, we were really worried about her health coming so early.”

“I was really unwell after birth so I wasn’t well enough to see her for quite some time, but the nurses wheeled me down from ICU to come and spend some time with her the night after she was born.”

“So, after a bit of a wobbly start, it is just amazing just how well she is doing now, and we just can’t believe we are hopefully going to be at home with the family for Christmas.”

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For urgent assessment at any stage of your pregnancy, please present to your nearest emergency centre or Mater Mothers’ 24/7 Pregnancy Assessment Centre in South Brisbane.

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