Delivering Great Care at Lakeridge Health

"Will my babies be able to survive?"

This was what Ashley McKay-Brookes asked when she learned that her twin boys were going to be born two months before they were due.

The expert team at Lakeridge Health promised her was that they would do everything they could to give her babies the best chance possible. In tense moments like these, it's not just the specialized care from doctors and nurses that these babies need. They need you too! Your gifts are what help us purchase the tools that allow us to diagnose and treat these precious children.

After Ashley's babies were born, her care team knew they were dealing with a serious situation. Ashley's second twin boy, Nicholas was born with a rare condition called Hydrops that caused his body to retain extra fluid around his organs. When he was born, Nicholas looked very puffy and needed help urgently.

Dealing with Hydrops at birth is something that would normally be referred to a more specialized hospital. However, in the case of Ashley and her twins, there just wasn't time. Ashley's care team went to work right away to treat and stabilize Nicholas, as well as his older brother William who weighed only 2 lbs 11 ounces at birth.

Support from our generous donors allows Lakeridge Health to purchase urgently needed equipment throughout the hospital.  Our paediatric department alone is in need of:

• IV syringe pumps that will drip medicine and fluids into tiny veins;
• Feeding pumps to nourish our smallest patients;
• As many as 9 new incubators to keep premature babies warm and protected.

Updated diagnostic tools will mean better diagnosis and faster discharge for babies and young children. And this is vital, because when parents are in the hospital with a sick child, all they want is to know that everything is going to be okay.

This is exactly how Ashley felt after she had her twins - thankfully everything turned out well for her boys. We're happy to say they are both passing all their follow-up tests with flying colours!

A gift to Lakeridge Health Foundation will help us treat many more babies like William and Nicholas.

In fact, every year there are 2,800 new babies born at Lakeridge Health. The majority of them are healthy and thriving, but for those who aren't, Lakeridge Health needs to have the proper equipment to help them. It may be as simple as having portable computer tablets that will allow staff to share x-rays and explain to the parents what is going on with their child. Each electronic device our staff have access to makes things easier for the families they care for.

You have such an important role to play in this work. With you by our side, Lakeridge Health can save the lives of more babies like William and Nicholas, and bring relief to their parents like Ashley and her husband Troy.

The birth of Ashley's twins was not an average delivery, but it will not be the last time the team at Lakeridge Health will have to work together to save one of Durham Region's tiniest patients.