By CASEY NEILL
BLANKETS are providing more than comfort for sick babies at Dandenong Hospital.
The Good Guys Dandenong visited the special care nursery on Thursday 14 April to donate $7400 raised at a golf day last November.
Monash Health Foundation director Debbie Shiell said the cash would help to buy two new bili blankets, which provide phototherapy to combat jaundice.
“(Owner) Allen (Garb) has been running the golf day for over 10 years now and this is the biggest donation he’s made through the golf day,” she said.
“We’ll put a little bit of money towards it and be able to buy two.
“It will help out our little patients and their parents as well.
“What used to happen is children used to be kept in humidicribs.
“They were stuck in a box. It was very scary for mum.”
Ms Shiell said the bili blankets could be wrapped around the babies and removed the need to keep them in a ‘box’.
“You can hug the baby to your heart’s content while they’re receiving therapy,” she said.
They can be passed around to relatives and feed normally.
“There is nothing worse than seeing what is, for all intents and purposes, a healthy baby inside a humidicrib,” she said.
Monash Health Foundation is raising money for more bili blankets for hospitals, as well as portable blankets for an in-home program.
Ms Shiell said otherwise healthy babies and their mums could return home sooner “rather than staying in hospital for no reason” and settle into their surroundings and a routine.
“Monash Health delivered 9489 babies last year,” she said.
“It’s a very common condition so we need a lot of blankets.”
Visit monashhealth.org to support the Mother’s Day appeal.
