Noah's Story
Shortly after Noah's birth he was airlifted from Kerry General Hospital to CHI at Crumlin
“My son Noah was born in May 2020. Almost immediately
after his birth, my mid-wife became aware that he wasn’t breathing properly and
he was taken to the neo-natal unit at University Hospital Kerry. It was then
decided that he would need to be transferred to CHI at Crumlin for more
specialised care and he was airlifted from UHK shortly after. He was diagnosed
with Persistent Pulmonary Hypertension (PPH), a serious breathing condition in
a newborn.
Due to Covid regulations, my husband wasn’t at the birth and he also couldn’t travel with Noah by helicopter. This was so difficult because we couldn’t be together as a family. My husband went to CHI at Crumlin to be with Noah and I was able to join after a couple of days.
The staff were so supportive and kind, they did all that they could to facilitate us. They allowed us to sit with Noah and informed us of what was going on, they reassured us. Noah was in intensive care for ten days before he was moved to a general ward. During this time I met with one of the breastfeeding champions, she set me up with a breast feeding pump. Noah was able to take the breastmilk through an NG (a type of feeding tube). On day twelve, Noah was taken off all oxygen
support and so I was finally able to attempt breastfeeding myself. I asked for
the help of one of the breastfeeding champions at CHI Crumlin who was
incredibly informative and is definitely one of the reasons that we were
successful.
The Nurses on the general ward were amazing, they were so good at keeping us informed and helping us move towards getting Noah discharged. I am so grateful to all the staff in CHI at Crumlin…The breastfeeding champion who supported me, the doctors and specialists, the nurse who helped me to give Noah his first bath and to make little footprints to send home to family. We are eternally grateful to them all.
The day we were told that Noah was doing well
enough to be discharged was the best moment imaginable, up until that point we
were in survival mode. It was only when we drove through the car park barriers
to leave that the stress and relief washed over us.
You never think it will be you, but the
support we received from the amazing staff in CHI at Crumlin was incredible. We
feel very grateful that we were able to bring Noah home and that he is doing so
well.” Caroline, Noah’s Mam
