Hospital donation means no blood test for newborns

12:11pm Saturday 16th June 2012 in News By Alexandra Rucki

Staff at St Helier Hospital’s maternity unit, including Sally Sivas (Back left) receive the new baby jaundice meters from League of Friends Chairman, Val Brundle (far right). Staff at St Helier Hospital’s maternity unit, including Sally Sivas (Back left) receive the new baby jaundice meters from League of Friends Chairman, Val Brundle (far right).

New technology in St Helier Hospital will mean newborns no longer need to have a blood test for jaundice.

The League of Friends of Sutton and St Helier Hospitals donated the baby jaundice meter to St Helier Hospital's maternity service and will enable staff to monitor the condition from an early stage.

Jaundice is common among babies, caused by a build-up of a yellow substance known as bilirubin in the blood.

It can usually subside with a good feeding regime, but in some newborns can lead to underlying health problems.

The technology will enables staff to monitor babies showing symptoms, which include the yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes.

Parents can get an on-the-spot test result, without newborns having to undergo a blood test.

Head of midwifery, Sally Sivas, said: "We cannot thank our charity friends enough for this wonderful gift. Thanks to the work of League of Friends, we can now carry out a much kinder, gentler test for most babies and get immediate results.

"The hand-held meter works by taking a reading from the baby’s skin surface, and is portable so in addition to staff using it on the wards community midwives can take it on home visits as part of their kitbag."

Val Brundle, chairman of League of Friends, said: "We are delighted to donate this wonderful new equipment to St Helier, who do amazing work with local expecting mums and their babies. "This is also great news for parents, as most of them won’t have to travel to hospital for this initial test now."

Parents are given advice when leaving hospital to help them detect jaundice in their newborn baby, as well as support through community home visits.

Visit epsom-sthelier.nhs.uk for more information.

Comments(1)

Michael Pantlin says...
4:44pm Sat 16 Jun 12

This is great news. All the public have to do now is to force the politicians, NHS senior civil servants and managers oddball ad hoc appointees like BSBV not to close the Maternity, Childrens' and A&E Departments at our St. Helier District General NHS Hospital. I read that Tom Brake MP's petition had attracted 4,000 signatories but come on people, 213,000 local residents will lose these services. I heard on the news that one in five people are illiterate but surely a few thousand more can sign on such an important matter even if it is Tom Brake's and Paul Burstow's party in coalition that's wielding the axe. Too late moaning when it's shut and you go there and find a locked door and a sign directing you to Tooting.

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