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Terry Swanson, Australia’s first Wound Management Nurse Practitioner,assisted with dressings to improve the healing process and reduce the pain.OBSTETRICIANS ‘VIRTUALLY’ PRESENTOn a day Obstetric Registrar Dr Karen Crozier was on-call for South WestHealthcare’s Midwifery Unit she was deep in surgery with an anaesthetisedpatient. The Midwifery Unit call came through that a foetal monitor wasregistering irregular heartbeat in a baby that was about to be born. Thanksto new world-class technology, theatre staff ‘dialled up’ the foetal monitorover the internet on a screen in the operating theatre.Dr Crozier then checked the monitor to be reassured the baby was fine. Onfinishing the surgery she then caught the lift to Midwifery to attend to themum-to-be.“South West Healthcare is the firstregional hospital in Australiato have the $92,000 technology...”‘It’s like having a good set of eyes in two places,’ she says, heaping praiseon this new system of ‘virtual’ clinical monitoring generously funded bythe A.L. Lane Foundation. South West Healthcare is the first regionalhospital in Australia to have the $92,000 technology, $30,000 of which wasprovided by the A.L. Lane Foundation.Midwifery Unit Manager Peter Logan says the development means toplevelobstetricians can be ‘virtually’ present. The foetal monitoring unitmeasures heart rate, temperature and other birthing checks, can be pluggedinto the hospital’s (broadband) local area network, which is linked via acable into all three birthing units, the administration area and the hospital’sconsulting obstetricians and GPs.‘An obstetrician might be in his or her rooms or at home and can dialup the hospital network and look at those traces on the monitor,’ Peterexplains. ‘In the past when there was a problem we’d have to print out thetraces, copy them and then try and fax them to the obstetrician, or theywould have to come in. There was often a time lag, but this enables theobstetrician to be there instantly to decide what action is needed.’Almost half the women who give birth in the Midwifery Unit needconstant foetal monitoring. Speaking of foetal monitoring, of the 200women who gave birth in the unit between July and November 2005 (20more than for the same time in 2004) almost 100 of them used ajust-purchased cordless foetal monitoring system. This is a very big deal.For the first time in more than 30 years, since continuous foetal monitoringwas introduced, it means local women now have the biggest choice ofbirthing positions and the highest-ever level of freedom to move around(even bath or shower) during labour.In other groundbreaking achievements for the Midwifery Unit this ReportYear, local mums-to-be are now being offered the most personalisedmaternity service ever seen, courtesy of the Rural Maternity Initiative welaunched in June. The 90 pregnant women who participate are guaranteeda team of three Continuity Midwives all to themselves. At any given time,Louise Jacobs, Janene Facey or Chris Patten are on duty or on-call.This idyllic one-on-one situation provides a greater continuity ofmidwifery-care during pregnancy, childbirth and the post-birth period byencouraging the development of strong midwife-client relationships. Apositive midwifery experience for the women and families involved is thename of the game. The exciting new focus also breaks with the traditionof pre and post-birth midwifery care being provided in a medical setting.Home visits are now on the menu. The Continuity Midwives arrange anumber of structured visits direct to the lounge-rooms of the program’senrolled women to discuss birthing plans, parenting issues and anythingelse that crops up before and after bub is born.Above: Sylvia Leishman is all smiles after an innovative SWHmedical team performed an Australia-first drug treatment tosave her leg. She’s pictured here with Wound Management NursePractitioner Terry Swanson (left) and Registered Nurse NayaniEdirimanna. Photo courtesy of The Standard and photographer Leanne Pickett.Opposite pageTop: From the comfort of his home Warrnambool’s VernBoard gets a visit from HARP workers Suzanne Holme (left)and Manager Janine Dureau-Finn. Our Hospital Admission RiskProgram is the region’s first.Centre: The causes of ill health through smoking are wellknown. Warrnambool Community Health Centre Chronic IllnessCoordinator Pat Johnston has commenced a Smoking CessationClinic. Photo courtesy of The Standard and photographer Angela Milne.Bottom: The health of our non-English speaking communities isbeing enhanced by the employment of the region’s first RefugeeHealth Nurse Moya Mahony. Photo courtesy of The Standard andphotographer Damian White.Top Right: South West Healthcare Warrnambool is the onlyhospital in regional Australia to have a ‘virtual’ clinical monitoringsystem. Obstetric Registrar Dr Karen Crozier says the technologyis unbelievable.Bottom Right: Kate-Marie Barnes was Warrnambool’s firstmum-to-be to get a home visit from one of our three CommunityNurses, Louise Jacobs. Photo courtesy of The Standard and photographerLeanne Pickett.16