A peek into the NCCMeet Ann-Marie, NCC nurse of 20 years!

Research updateOver 85% of a healthy immune system is related to the gut.

The Crank Triplets

For more information please call 02 9382 6720 or visit us at royalforwomenfoundation.org.au

Issue 05 Summer 2015

Life StoriesBecome a Royal MumEach year 4,000 mothers choose to have their baby at the Royal.

To celebrate and pay tribute to these women, the Royal for Women has created an ‘Honour Wall’ located on the ground level near reception. Join at royalmums.royalforwomenfoundation.org.au

Purchase a Baby StarBaby Stars commemorate the birth of your baby. After you purchase your baby’s star, we’ll contact you to let you know when it’s up on the wall.Visit royalforwomenfoundation.org.au

Meet Ann-Marie, Clinical Nurse Specialist of over 20 years and one of the Newborn Care Centre angels.

Ann-Marie began her midwifery training at The Royal Hospital for Women in 1993. She was placed in the nursery, and she fell in love.

“I love the people, love the babies and love the families. I feel good about what I do, and I feel like I achieve every day.”

There is no such thing as a typical day in Ann-Marie’s job. She is always managing diverse situations with different families. Every day at work Ann-Marie and the NCC staff act as carers, educators, advisors and counsellors. Every family is different, and they each face unique difficulties the team help them to overcome.

“I really enjoy my job. It is challenging, but it really is a team effort. I think we do a great job as a collective, including the parents.”

Ann-Marie was one of the CNSs nurses who cared for the Crank triplets during their time in The Royal’s NCC. “I cared for the Crank triplets on level two and three. Scott and Lola were such involved parents. Anything we advised, they would do. They were very eager to learn.”

Another part of Ann-Marie’s wonderful job is to teach the parents about their children’s condition. Lola and Scott learnt about their babies’ saturation levels, and how to read their heart rates.

“Lola was very overwhelmed initially, and I think once she got over the shock of the whole thing she really became involved. She would come in at 8am and leave at 4pm every day. She was in hospital with those boys for quite a few months, doing everything with them. Scott sadly had to go back to work a couple of weeks after they were born, but he came in every night after work to be with them.”

Lola and Scott popped in to the Hospital recently, and visited Ann-

Marie and the NCC staff with the boys. “The boys were beautiful! They all look fantastic. Considering what they came from and the likelihood that Lola could have potentially had children with difficulties – she’s got three perfect boys. I had a really great sense of satisfaction when I saw them again. But I always say to the mums when they bring them back, that this is because of them. They are the constant in the babies’ lives. They are there every day. I am always quick to put the glory back on them. They’ve had such a long journey with lots of highs and lows, but Lola and Scott have sense serenity about them…I think they are amazing. They were so appreciative and it just makes the job so much better”.

A peek into the NCC

BAZAAR in BloomThe inaugural BAZAAR in Bloom was an incredible night! We were absolutely amazed by the generosity of our guests. The event has helped provide much needed funding to The Royal's world-class Fertility Research Centre. This centre will be Australia’s first holistic centre for fertility, providing comprehensive IVF and assisted reproductive treatment, and services for all patients, regardless of socio-economic status. Thank you again to all involved, it was a truly memo-rable event.

Level 1, Barker StreetRandwick NSW 2031, AustraliaPostage Address Locked Bag 2000 Randwick NSW 2031

Phone 02 9382 6720 Fax 02 9382 6762royalforwomenfoundation.org.aucontactus@royalforwomenfoundation.org.au

Follow us to stay up to date with the latest Foundation news!Facebook: facebook.com/royalhospitalforwomenfoundation Instagram: @royalforwomenTwitter: @royalforwomen

Babies of The Royal... Help us celebrate our Royal babies. Take a picture of your Royal bub and share it with us using #babiesoftheroyal OR if you have a Royal story you'd like to share contact us at contactus@royalforwomenfoundation.org.au

Photo: Ann-Marie in the NCC

Page 2 The Royal Hospital for Women Foundation Royal News

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Merry Christmas We wish you a safe holiday

and a Happy New Year!

Did you have your baby at The Royal?

Join our Royal Mums Honour Wall

To acknowledge and celebrate you and all women who have given birth at The Royal we have the Royal Mums Honour Wall located on the ground floor at The Royal.

There is no cost to join the Honour Wall. Your name will be listed along with the years of birth.

Name _____________________________________________

Address ___________________________________________

Suburb ______________________________ State ________

Postcode ___________________

Phone number _____________________________________

Email _____________________________________________

Years of birth (eg 2009, 2011) _______________________

__________________________________________________

For more information visit www.royalforwomenfoundation.org.au/royalmums

Baby Stars

Celebrate the birth of your child with a Baby Star located on Level One of The Royal (near Birth and Delivery Suites).

Baby Stars are $100 per star (child) and you can choose between gold or silver.

Please complete your child’s details below and the payment form on the reverse of this form ($100 donation per star).

Child First & Middle Name ___________________________

Child Last Name ___________________________________

Date of Birth ______________________________________

Child First & Middle Name ___________________________

Child Last Name ___________________________________

Date of Birth ______________________________________

Please post your completed form to:

Royal Hospital for Women FoundationLocked Bag 2000, Randwick NSW 2031Phone 02 9382 6720 Fax 02 9382 6762www.royalforwomenfoundation.org.au

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“It was terrifying; we thought we were in the clear and then we weren’t. We thought that we would lose them." – Lola

Thankfully a week later things began to stabilise with Caspian and Arzak.

“Every time we came out of a scan, it was like a little victory.” – Lola

But the ride wasn’t over yet. At 19 weeks, Lola was told her cervix was only 2.2cm, which is very short for that time in the pregnancy. One week later it was down to 1.1cm, meaning that she could go into labour at any stage, and ultimately they could lose all three of their boys.

“We thought we had beaten it all, and then we were at very high risk of losing all three. We were basically told not to expect this to be a viable pregnancy.” – Scott

Riddled with devastation, Lola spent her sleepless nights researching everything she could about her condition. A friend of the Cranks and Midwife at The Royal, Michelle Simpson, encouraged them not to give up. Lola eventually found what worked for her, and at 26 weeks her cervix was up to 2.2cm again.

“The doctors said that I was out of the woods with the cervix. We just couldn’t believe it, we were delighted.” – Lola

“We had mixed emotions on the day. Happy because we were going to have our babies with us, but terrified at the same time that they were not going to be born healthy or that they wouldn’t make it.” – Lola

The boys were rushed to The Royal's Newborn Care Centre. The first 48 hours saw some setbacks, with Winston and Arzak both experiencing breathing difficulties.

“It is such a great team at the NCC. They care for your babies more than anything else…there are so many angels flying around that room.” – Scott For the next few months, Lola and Scott spent every single day coming to The Royal to be with their boys, and each day their babies grew stronger.

“It was a really hard time, and I used to always think, did we make the right decision? When you look at it and go there’s Caspian, there’s Arzak and there’s Winston. Yes we did. I couldn’t imagine anything I’d want more in life than three little healthy happy boys and with the woman I love.” – Scott “We had so many close calls but it’s all worth it. Everything is a distant memory when you see those boys…and when you look at those perfect little faces; you know that it’s going to be ok.” – Lola

Every day at The Royal, a baby’s life

begins, a baby’s life is saved, a woman’s life is saved and new research creates

miracles. Please donate using the attached coupon, or for more information visit royalforwomenfoundation.org.au

The Crank Triplets

The Crank Triplets continued

Catherine Oates Smith Chief Executive

Research focus: gut microbiota

A message from the CEODear friends and supporters,

I absolutely love this time of year, as it brings such a sense of hope and opportunity. 2015 has been a big year for the Foundation. We had the Prime Minister attend our Annual Dinner, debuted the inaugural BAZAAR in Bloom and so much more. This year the Foundation supported the Hospital to care for over 10,000 women, and send over 4,200 babies home with their families. This is such an amazing achievement, and could not be possible without the generosity of our supporters. It’s a privilege to see first-hand the difference that your support makes to the Hospital. It helps us to care for women and babies at their most vulnerable. I can’t wait to see what 2016 will bring. Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year, thank you for your passion and commitment.

Over 85% of a healthy immune system is related to the gut.

Developing a health bacterial environment in the gut

within the first years of life is crucial for the immune

system, health and overall well-being of the body. Immune

related disorders such as asthma, eczema, obesity

and bowel disease are directly connected to the gut

development.

Very premature babies cared for in the intensive care unit

with immature guts are highly vulnerable to getting early

gut infections and in developing an aberrant intestinal

microbiota which may have severe consequences for their

development and health later on in life. For this reason, a

research team lead by Associate Professor Kei Lui (who

is the head of The Royal’s Newborn Intensive Care Unit)

have begun cutting edge research into the link between

long term problems for premature babies, and the gut

microbiota maturation.

The establishment of a “normal” microbiota in the first

few weeks after birth is critical. Probiotic bacteria added

to feeds of very premature babies have demonstrated

benefits of reduction of gut infection. This highlights that

maintaining a good balance of natural prebiotics with

the addition of probiotics may provide a more nourishing

environment for healthy development of the gut

microbiota.

Photo: Scott, Lola and the triplets

Photo: The happy healthy Crank triplets

“We had so many close calls but it’s all worth it.”

After a long and disappointing journey with IVF treatment, Lola and Scott Crank were absolutely ecstatic to find out they were expecting a baby. When Lola became extremely unwell with morning sickness, the couple knew things weren’t as they seemed. An early scan revealed three tiny heart beats One of the two embryos split, meaning that Lola was pregnant with identical twins Caspian and Arzak, and singleton, Winston.

“It was mixed emotions, we were excited, and then you think oh my god its three babies! How am I going to cope with three babies? How is my body going to cope with three babies?” – Lola

For the coming months, Lola experienced a very physically and emotionally difficult pregnancy.

Initially the twins were thought to have been mono-mono twins, where the babies share one placenta and are at high risk of choking each other with cord entanglement. The boys were cleared at 12 weeks, but at 16 weeks a routine test showed that the amniotic fluid around Caspian was very low. Scott and Lola were told that the twins were showing early signs of twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome.

The relief was once again stripped from the new parents-to-be. They were told that Caspian’s growth had begun to slow, and at 26 weeks it had almost completely stopped. Lola was hospitalised so that Caspian was under constant monitoring.

“At this point, we really did think that we had beaten it all. It was really stressful, but Lola is such a strong person.” – Scott

At 28 weeks and six days, the triplets made their early entrance into the world.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDEDThe Foundation needs volunteers to help with our donation kiosk in The Royal Hospital for Women foyer, as well as at other Foundation events. If you are intersted you can reach us at: contactus@royalforwomenfoundation.org.au

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I would like to make a regular monthly donation to the Royal Hospital for Women Foundation.

$25 $40 $75 my choice $ ___________

AND/OR

Please accept my one-off donation of $ _______________

Name _____________________________________________

Address ___________________________________________

Suburb ______________________________ State ________

Postcode ___________________

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Email _____________________________________________

If you are donating on behalf of a company

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Payment Details

Please find enclosed my cheque made payable to RHW Foundation, or

Please debit this card: Visa Mastercard. Your gift of $2 or more is tax deductible.

Card number:

____________ / ____________ / ____________ / ___________

Card expiry date: ________ / ________

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Signature:____________________________________________

All donations of $2 and above will receive a tax-deductible donation and this will be posted to you.

Please send me information about leaving a gift to RHW Foundation in my will

Please provide me information about how my workplace can support the RHW Foundation.

Please post your completed form to:

Royal Hospital for Women FoundationLocked Bag 2000, Randwick NSW 2031Phone 02 9382 6720 Fax 02 9382 6762www.royalforwomenfoundation.org.au

Be a Life Giver. Help us care for women and babies at the Royal Hospital for Women.

Your support will make a difference

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