Medway ward for premature babies celebrates 25 years

The Oliver Fisher neonatal intensive care ward says it has improved patient outcomes for families and premature newborns in Medway and Swale.

Transcript

00:00For nearly 25 years, the Oliver Fisher Neonatal Ward and Medway Maritime Hospital

00:06has held babies in need after Medway's first intensive ward was decommissioned in 1999.

00:13Many babies on this ward are born prematurely. That means they can be less than a pound in size,

00:18some born just 23 weeks into gestation, half the term of a usual pregnancy,

00:25and those babies will end up in an incubator like this one where they'll be nourished and

00:30looked after until they're ready to be taken home by their parents.

00:34Alice was the first baby to be treated on the ward. Alongside the Oliver Fisher Trust,

00:40Alice and her father Jeff are now trying to ensure the ward has the best equipment it can,

00:45so complications from being born prematurely can be detected as early as possible.

00:50No one ever knows that they're going to need this service until they're in that situation,

00:55and seeing all the technological advances that have come on over the last 25 years,

01:00it's just astonishing really, isn't it? And that's why donations and people interacting

01:05with the charity really are vital for us to keep doing what we're doing.

01:09Every time we have a board meeting, we discuss new technology, new equipment that comes fresh

01:17to the market, where we can play an active part in purchasing for the Trust and for the unit,

01:24and I think that's really, really important that sets this unit, the Oliver Fisher Special Care

01:30Baby Unit, apart from maybe other charities for other special care baby units who aren't in the

01:36position to be able to do that. And we've always said that I suppose the mantra that we've always

01:40had is to make sure that we can provide the best care that we possibly can.

01:47One in seven births require a neonatal intensive care unit, with the Oliver Fisher Ward seeing

01:521,200 babies passing through its door every year. Those who work here say it has been crucial for

01:59improving patient outcomes. Managing these babies and families closer to home is one of the ethos

02:06that in neonatal intensive care, so we should be keeping our babies and mums and the families

02:12closer to home. So if there wasn't any unit in Medway or in West Kent, the babies and family

02:19would be transferred far away from their home. There would be more disruption for the families

02:25as well, the fathers and remaining family members. So it is extremely important that

02:31this unit is present where it is to look after babies and families within

02:36Medway and in the West Kent area. With celebrations set for its anniversary in July,

02:41both the Trust and doctors on the ward hope new equipment will continue to improve the lives

02:47of Kent's smallest patients. Oliver Leeds for KMTV in Medway.