How We Help
The WCH Foundation is committed to making a difference for families by providing ongoing support to the Women’s and Children’s Hospital that has a lasting impact on the health and wellbeing of women, children and babies.
We work closely with your Hospital to make sure that the contribution made by our donors, supporters, partners and staff helps children and their families in the best possible way.
In the last financial year, we provided support in a number of ways from purchasing new equipment to providing funding for vital services. Some of these included:
Equipment
NICU Cooling Device
The NICU Cooling Device is used to treat Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE) in newborn babies. It treats infants who have had a lack of oxygen to their brain and other vital organs during birth. Because of your donation, this one machine has treated 12 newborn babies in the past twelve months alone. You have helped to provide these babies with the best possible start to their little lives and their physiological development as they grow.
Vital Signs Monitor
This state of the art mobile vital signs monitor is used throughout the Hospital. It check body temperature, blood pressure, respiration rate and pulse rate in approximately 20 children per month. This monitor greatly assists the medical staff in making quick clinical decisions on a patient’s health problems and the impact of treatment.
Paediatric Emergency Department Ultrasound Scanner
Each year the Paediatric Emergency Department (PED) treats over 45,000* children. With your support, we supplied an Ultrasound Scanner. It is used in the PED up to 100 times per month to take images of a child’s abdomen, producing a clear picture for medical staff of internal organs and blood vessels.
*PED figure for 2016/17 as provided by the Hospital is 46,685 children treated.
Services
Bereaved Fathers Group 2016
Your support funds a parental bereavements group specifically for fathers. Meeting four times a year, this group can include up to ten fathers a session in a private peer setting to discuss their grief over the loss of their child.
Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) Parent Room Upgrade
The PICU Parent Room is used by up to 2,190 families each year, providing a peaceful retreat away from the clinical area for parents. This retreat space includes two sleep rooms enabling parents to stay close to their child while in hospital.
Art Therapy
Our Art Therapists run programs for fathers and siblings who have a seriously ill brother, sister or child to express their emotions, establish coping strategies and meet others in a similar situation through a two-day workshop and follow-up activities.
Play Therapy
As part of our Arts in Health Program, the WCH Foundation provides funding for eight play therapists across the various wards of the Women’s and Children’s Hospital.
Play Therapy provides a creative diversion for children and adolescents during their hospital stay, giving them an outlet for self-expression and to alleviate anxiety through art, play and music.
Pregnancy Simulation Project –Education
In 2017*, your support of the Pregnancy Simulation Project has funded 2,101 hours of education for expectant mothers.
*Education provided from January – October only.