Mater Private Hospital Redland babies born premature can get specialised support from Brisbane to help them grow into strong little people.
Mater's Home for Our Patients Earlier (HOPE) program gets parents with patients in the Special Care Nursery (SCN) equipped to take care of their early arrivals with extra support.
The program teaches parents how to look after their newborn's feeding tubes when transitioning to go home, which helps them establish an even closer bond with their child and sustain and improve breastfeeding.
Babies born at the private Hospitals well enough to participate in the HOPE program can receive the care in Brisbane.
Neonatal Transfers and Discharges Clinical Services Coordinator Beth Thomas said the program enabled parents to bond with their baby at home and integrate them into family life while safely shortening their hospital stay.
"Parents are taught how to manage and feed their baby via a gastric tube while they are working towards taking all of their feeds from the breast or bottle," Ms Thomas said.
She said families who meet criteria undergo special training to manage tube feeds for their baby at home.
"A designated HOPE Nurse will work with the family to ensure they are prepared for discharge and support their ongoing journey through daily telehealth consults and home visits," she said.
She said decreasing the amount of time babies spent in hospital lessened the risk of acquiring hospital associated infections.
Fortitude Valley mum and midwife Kristen Meadows took part in the program when her twins Ivy and Ella were born via an emergency caesarean 13 weeks early in April.
Because of the program she was able to bring her daughters home at 37 weeks instead of the common 40 week mark.
"Both the girls came home with feeding tubes, which was so liberating because my partner and I knew we could care for them in the comfort of our own home with no monitors beeping away," Ms Meadows said.
"For us to be home and together as a family was very beneficial and made things easier."
"The lactation consultants really helped by teaching me techniques to assist the girls with breastfeeds once their tubes came out - we always had reassurance and guidance," she said.