Monash Newborn at Monash Children's Clayton
Welcome to Monash Newborn at Monash Children's Clayton.
During you and your baby’s stay our staff will do their utmost to provide you and your baby with the best possible care and treatment.
Many parents find it quite stressful when their baby has to come into the nursery. Often there has been little opportunity to prepare for baby being born early or being unwell and any concerns about baby’s health may be made worse by worries about mother’s condition too. For many families there is the added stress of being in an unfamiliar hospital that may be a long way away from home, family and friends.
We have prepared this leaflet about the nursery to provide you with some basic information that we hope you will find helpful during your baby’s stay with us. There are several other booklets and leaflets that you can pick up in the nursery, but these will be more relevant in the days ahead.
The medical, nursing and other staff will make every effort to ensure you are kept fully informed about your baby’s condition and care. If at any time you require more information, or wish to speak to a member of our staff, please do not hesitate to ask.
A difficult time
When a baby is born prematurely or is sick and needs special or intensive care, it is usually a very difficult time emotionally for the parents, their families and friends. Parents deal with anxiety and react to the stress in a variety of ways, but some of the very common feelings and reactions include: feeling stunned or having a sense of unreality;
The Monash Newborn social workers are available to parents and their families for counselling and emotional support.
The Hospital chaplains can provide spiritual comfort and a listening ear.
- sadness/crying a lot;
- a sense of failure or guilt;
- feeling helpless;
- a sense of loss;
- anxiety about baby’s survival or long term health; and,
- feeling a lack of support.
The Monash Newborn social workers are available to parents and their families for counselling and emotional support.
The Hospital chaplains can provide spiritual comfort and a listening ear.
Expressing breast milk
Until your baby is having demand breastfeeds you need to express your breast milk regularly to establish and maintain your milk supply.
We recommend that you begin hand expressing as soon as possible after the birth of your baby. Expressing kits and hand breast pumps can be purchased from Monash Newborn. Once your milk “comes in”, usually on days 2-3, you can combine hand expressing with using an electric pump. This is most efficient at maintaining your milk supply.
Electric pumps are available for hire from Monash Newborn, the post natal wards, pharmacies, and the Australian Breastfeeding Association. Please ask your baby’s nurse about this.
Wash your expressing kit out with hot soapy water and rinse between expressions. Sterilise it once per day at home. Store it in a plastic snap lock bag. Replace bag daily. Sterile bottles for expressed breast milk (EBM) are provided by Monash Newborn on the bench outside bay 3.
Express at least 6 times in 24 hours, including once overnight
Gently massage and hand express for a few minutes before and after using the electric pump. Allow 30-40 minutes for each expression and alternate breasts during each expression time. Talk with us if you notice a decreasing milk volume.
Label your EBM with your baby’s hospital label and with the date and time of expression. Please put your labeled EBM straight into the refrigerator in your baby’s bay.
When in Monash Newborn you may express in the Breastfeeding room opposite bay 3 or at your baby’s cot side.
In Monash Newborn fresh EBM is kept in the fridge for no more than 48 hours from the time of expression.
If there is going to be a delay of more than 24 hours in bringing EBM to the nursery, it is better to freeze the excess. If you are expressing more milk than your baby requires then we recommend you freeze the excess in the sterile bottle or a special milk collection bag which can be purchased from a pharmacy. We can store 24 hours worth of frozen EBM for your baby.
Always use an esky or similar container to transport fresh and frozen EBM.
We will encourage you to have skin-to-skin contact with your baby as this may result in increased milk supply and earlier breastfeeding.
Please feel free to discuss your baby’s feeding with your baby’s nurse if you are unsure about any aspect about your baby’s feeding.
We recommend that you begin hand expressing as soon as possible after the birth of your baby. Expressing kits and hand breast pumps can be purchased from Monash Newborn. Once your milk “comes in”, usually on days 2-3, you can combine hand expressing with using an electric pump. This is most efficient at maintaining your milk supply.
Electric pumps are available for hire from Monash Newborn, the post natal wards, pharmacies, and the Australian Breastfeeding Association. Please ask your baby’s nurse about this.
Wash your expressing kit out with hot soapy water and rinse between expressions. Sterilise it once per day at home. Store it in a plastic snap lock bag. Replace bag daily. Sterile bottles for expressed breast milk (EBM) are provided by Monash Newborn on the bench outside bay 3.
Express at least 6 times in 24 hours, including once overnight
Gently massage and hand express for a few minutes before and after using the electric pump. Allow 30-40 minutes for each expression and alternate breasts during each expression time. Talk with us if you notice a decreasing milk volume.
Label your EBM with your baby’s hospital label and with the date and time of expression. Please put your labeled EBM straight into the refrigerator in your baby’s bay.
When in Monash Newborn you may express in the Breastfeeding room opposite bay 3 or at your baby’s cot side.
In Monash Newborn fresh EBM is kept in the fridge for no more than 48 hours from the time of expression.
If there is going to be a delay of more than 24 hours in bringing EBM to the nursery, it is better to freeze the excess. If you are expressing more milk than your baby requires then we recommend you freeze the excess in the sterile bottle or a special milk collection bag which can be purchased from a pharmacy. We can store 24 hours worth of frozen EBM for your baby.
Always use an esky or similar container to transport fresh and frozen EBM.
We will encourage you to have skin-to-skin contact with your baby as this may result in increased milk supply and earlier breastfeeding.
Please feel free to discuss your baby’s feeding with your baby’s nurse if you are unsure about any aspect about your baby’s feeding.
Feeding your baby
We will involve you in discussions and decisions about your baby’s feeding plan. Your baby will begin a feeding journey which may have several stages and include nutrition into a vein, tube milk feeds and sucking feeds. We will respect your decisions about feeding your baby.
We will encourage and support you to breastfeed. Breastfeeding helps mother and baby to bond and has many health benefits for bother mother and baby. Timing of feeds will be flexible to give you every opportunity to feed your baby. The mother’s consent is required for formula and bottle feeding.
We recommend that your baby be offered non-nutritive sucking (sucking on a dummy, your emptied breast or a gloved finger) during a tube feed or when alert or restless as this can support the development of sucking. Your consent is required for your baby to be given a dummy.
We will encourage and support you to breastfeed. Breastfeeding helps mother and baby to bond and has many health benefits for bother mother and baby. Timing of feeds will be flexible to give you every opportunity to feed your baby. The mother’s consent is required for formula and bottle feeding.
We recommend that your baby be offered non-nutritive sucking (sucking on a dummy, your emptied breast or a gloved finger) during a tube feed or when alert or restless as this can support the development of sucking. Your consent is required for your baby to be given a dummy.
Hand hygiene
Making sure your hands are clean is one of the easiest ways to help stop infection spreading. The normal germs on your skin that are no risk to adults may cause infection in babies.
Before entering Monash Newborn please:
Before entering Monash Newborn please:
- remove your watch;
- remove all jewelry from your hands and arms;
- roll up your sleeves to past your elbows;
- apply one pump of Avaguard antiseptic hand rub to your dry hands;
- wet hands and fingernails with hand rub;
- rub vigorously over all surfaces of your hands and wrists; and
- allow to air dry
Information about the nursery
Coming into the nursery for the first time may be bewildering. The noise, lights and activity, along with the monitors and other equipment make most parents feel uncomfortable and anxious.
Your baby’s bedside nurse will explain the purpose of the equipment and answer your questions about baby. You may forget much of what you are told in the early days. But don’t worry – you can always ask again.
It’s good for your baby to hear your voice and to feel your touch even if she or he needs lots of care. If your baby is in an isolette, the nurse will show you how to put your hand in without baby getting cold. Please be sure to clean your hands before each time you touch your baby.
You will see that your baby has identification labels on an arm or ankle. The label is always checked before any medication is given.
The parents’ day room is beside the lifts opposite the entrance to Monash Newborn and can be used between 9am and 8pm. Here you will find tea and coffee making facilities, a fridge, a TV and comfortable seats.
Your baby’s bedside nurse will explain the purpose of the equipment and answer your questions about baby. You may forget much of what you are told in the early days. But don’t worry – you can always ask again.
It’s good for your baby to hear your voice and to feel your touch even if she or he needs lots of care. If your baby is in an isolette, the nurse will show you how to put your hand in without baby getting cold. Please be sure to clean your hands before each time you touch your baby.
You will see that your baby has identification labels on an arm or ankle. The label is always checked before any medication is given.
The parents’ day room is beside the lifts opposite the entrance to Monash Newborn and can be used between 9am and 8pm. Here you will find tea and coffee making facilities, a fridge, a TV and comfortable seats.
Taking care of your nipples and breasts
Wash your nipples with water only. After feeding, leave the nipple to dry.
If a milk duct becomes blocked, part of your breast may feel hard and tender. A tight bra, particularly one with under-wiring, may be the problem, or baby may not be sucking properly. To relieve the blocked duct, gently massage the tender area, towards the nipple. Let baby feed more frequently or express after a feed, if baby is not emptying the breast well.
If you develop mastitis (feel ill and have a reddened, painful area in your breast) visit your doctor as soon as possible. You may need antibiotics. Most antibiotics are safe to take while breastfeeding.
If a milk duct becomes blocked, part of your breast may feel hard and tender. A tight bra, particularly one with under-wiring, may be the problem, or baby may not be sucking properly. To relieve the blocked duct, gently massage the tender area, towards the nipple. Let baby feed more frequently or express after a feed, if baby is not emptying the breast well.
If you develop mastitis (feel ill and have a reddened, painful area in your breast) visit your doctor as soon as possible. You may need antibiotics. Most antibiotics are safe to take while breastfeeding.
Visiting your baby
Space can be cramped in the nursery, but please don’t be afraid of ‘being in the way’. You may spend as much time as you wish with your baby.
When your baby is stable the nurses will help you to hold your baby, and assist you in taking part in the day to day care of your baby.
Siblings are welcome, but your young children need to be with an adult who can supervise them at all times.
Other children are allowed to visit for a brief period, but must be with an adult who can supervise them at all times.
Grandparents, other family members and friends are all welcome.
However, we ask you to limit visitors to two at a time.
These visitors must always ask at the reception desk if it is appropriate to visit, before entering the nursery.
Please do not bring your children or other visitors to the nursery if they have a cold, diarrhoea, vomiting or any other signs of infection. If in any doubt, check with the nursing staff.
Please no food or hot drinks in the nursery.
When your baby is stable the nurses will help you to hold your baby, and assist you in taking part in the day to day care of your baby.
Siblings are welcome, but your young children need to be with an adult who can supervise them at all times.
Other children are allowed to visit for a brief period, but must be with an adult who can supervise them at all times.
Grandparents, other family members and friends are all welcome.
However, we ask you to limit visitors to two at a time.
All visitors must be accompanied by a parent.
In exceptional circumstances permission can be obtained for specific family or friends to visit in your absence. This will require the parent’s written permission and the in-charge nurse to witness.These visitors must always ask at the reception desk if it is appropriate to visit, before entering the nursery.
Please do not bring your children or other visitors to the nursery if they have a cold, diarrhoea, vomiting or any other signs of infection. If in any doubt, check with the nursing staff.
Please no food or hot drinks in the nursery.