Special Care for New Arrivals

The Maternity team at Gosford Private Hospital recently supported the birth of twins, Ava and Louis, born at just 34.5 weeks on the 7th of August. Weighing in at only 2.20kg and 1.87kg respectively, the twins have spent the past two weeks being cared for in the hospital’s Special Care Nursery.

“Pregnancy-wise it was reasonably straightforward, however being twins it was obviously a bit more challenging than a single pregnancy. In the last month of the pregnancy we found out that we needed to book in for a caesarean because little Louis had stopped growing as much as he needed to be and little Ava was taking over a bit. The safest option at that stage was to have an emergency caesarean at 34.5 weeks,” said mum Lani.

The birth itself went well with the support of Obstetrician, Dr Peta Skilbeck, and the Gosford Private team, with the twins placed in the Special Care Nursery and initially supported with their breathing using the hospital’s bubble CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) machine. The hospital’s facilities and highly trained staff enabling them to stay on the Central Coast and not be transferred down to Sydney.

The babies have since gone from strength to strength, putting on weight, learning to breastfeed and beginning to thrive. “It’s been really nice to see the tubes coming out and for the equipment to be gradually taken away.”

Parents Lani and Steve chose to have their twins at Gosford Private under the care of Dr Skilbeck, who also delivered their first child in 2018.

“It has been a little bit strange since the babies were born, especially in the middle of COVID times, which has been challenging in terms of family and friends and especially the twins’ older sibling not being able to visit, but the care has been amazing and I’ve felt really confident even though they were premature and have had some extra special care. I’ve been very confident in the nursing and medical staff here, I’ve been really comfortable. Becoming a ‘boarder mum’ has made life a little bit easier, as I’ve been able to go down and spend time with my other daughter in the hospital’s coffee shop, as well as spend time with my twins.”

Lani and Steve are now looking forward to taking the twins back home to get to know their 2.5 year old big sister Amelie properly, and getting into the rhythm of life as a family of 5.