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Blue Mountains Gazette
December 11, 2013 Wednesday
She was 10 weeks premature and weighed only 1200 grams.
by Jennie Curtin
She was 10 weeks premature and weighed only 1200 grams. The first four
weeks of her life were spent in intensive care at Nepean, a trying
time for her family who could not stay with her.
But for the next six weeks, Sophia Aspinall was at Katoomba Hospital,
where parents Kelly and Leon could stay overnight and spend as much
time as they wanted with her.
At a much healthier 2.8 kilograms, Sophia finally made it home to
Lithgow last month.
Mrs Aspinall was full of praise for the care her family had received
at Katoomba.
"The staff have been amazing, really supportive" she said. The mother
of two other children, Cooper (9) and Ben (6) thought the "the
facilities were fantastic", allowing her or her husband to spend the
night in a bed near Sophia.
And if they had to be home with their boys, they knew their daughter
was in good hands.
Katoomba's paediatric unit, where Sophia stayed, is the only
specialised Paediatric Inpatient Unit between Bathurst Base Hospital
and Nepean Hospital.
It's relatively small but is well-equipped to deal with all but the
most extreme emergencies, said its head, Dr Arman Babajanyan.
Dr Babajanyan is an Armenian-born and trained paediatric cardiologist
with a masters degree at Boston University in the US. When he moved to
Australia a few years ago to work at Westmead Children's Hospital and
live in the Mountains, his family decided they wanted to stay.
Although it meant an extra five years' study to gain his paediatric
accreditation and qualify to practise here, Dr Babajanyan said it was
worth it.
He is now in charge at Katoomba, where he enjoys the small but dedicated team.
"When I wake up I want to go to work," he said. "We have very
hard-working, qualified nurses and midwives which makes the work more
enjoyable. The nurses are very willing to learn new things."
Dr Babajanyan said the paediatric unit at Katoomba could care for most
of the common ailments involving infants and children, including
asthma, bronchitis, pneumonia and gastro problems.
The hospital does not have a paediatric intensive care unit nor does
it perform surgery on young patients.
He believed a smaller hospital was often less daunting for a young
patient. "If you go to emergency at [a major hospital], you might see
five doctors before you see a paediatric consultant." But at Katoomba,
an on-call paediatrician was only a short distance away, he said.
If parents brought a child to emergency, "they have a much higher
chance of being cared for by a paediatrician".
From: A. Papazian
December 11, 2013 Wednesday
She was 10 weeks premature and weighed only 1200 grams.
by Jennie Curtin
She was 10 weeks premature and weighed only 1200 grams. The first four
weeks of her life were spent in intensive care at Nepean, a trying
time for her family who could not stay with her.
But for the next six weeks, Sophia Aspinall was at Katoomba Hospital,
where parents Kelly and Leon could stay overnight and spend as much
time as they wanted with her.
At a much healthier 2.8 kilograms, Sophia finally made it home to
Lithgow last month.
Mrs Aspinall was full of praise for the care her family had received
at Katoomba.
"The staff have been amazing, really supportive" she said. The mother
of two other children, Cooper (9) and Ben (6) thought the "the
facilities were fantastic", allowing her or her husband to spend the
night in a bed near Sophia.
And if they had to be home with their boys, they knew their daughter
was in good hands.
Katoomba's paediatric unit, where Sophia stayed, is the only
specialised Paediatric Inpatient Unit between Bathurst Base Hospital
and Nepean Hospital.
It's relatively small but is well-equipped to deal with all but the
most extreme emergencies, said its head, Dr Arman Babajanyan.
Dr Babajanyan is an Armenian-born and trained paediatric cardiologist
with a masters degree at Boston University in the US. When he moved to
Australia a few years ago to work at Westmead Children's Hospital and
live in the Mountains, his family decided they wanted to stay.
Although it meant an extra five years' study to gain his paediatric
accreditation and qualify to practise here, Dr Babajanyan said it was
worth it.
He is now in charge at Katoomba, where he enjoys the small but dedicated team.
"When I wake up I want to go to work," he said. "We have very
hard-working, qualified nurses and midwives which makes the work more
enjoyable. The nurses are very willing to learn new things."
Dr Babajanyan said the paediatric unit at Katoomba could care for most
of the common ailments involving infants and children, including
asthma, bronchitis, pneumonia and gastro problems.
The hospital does not have a paediatric intensive care unit nor does
it perform surgery on young patients.
He believed a smaller hospital was often less daunting for a young
patient. "If you go to emergency at [a major hospital], you might see
five doctors before you see a paediatric consultant." But at Katoomba,
an on-call paediatrician was only a short distance away, he said.
If parents brought a child to emergency, "they have a much higher
chance of being cared for by a paediatrician".
From: A. Papazian