Report from Jane Sibley (cleft nurse specialist)

Jane Sibley visited CoRSU hospital in March this year.  Her full report can be read if you click here.

Here is a snippet from her report, and some lovely photos:

A baby in recovery immediately after a bilateral cleft lip repair, being giving water with sugar A baby straight after surgery for a bilateral cleft lip repair A post-operative baby being fed using the soft bottle Bertha (nutritionist) and Maureen (nurse on nutrition team) teaching a mum to use a breast pump Bilateral lip repair clinic Introducing a soft bottle and teat to a baby with a bilateral cleft lip and palate Lorna, the head nutritionist who organised the clinic for me The mum who was using the breast pump, giving her own milk to her baby with the soft bottle The same baby- this is where we like to put vaseline on the fresh lip repair to soften it and make it more comfortable for the babies. The same mum using the pump confidently herself The wardLorna and Bertha (nutritionists) had organised a special clinic for me. They had invited around 30 mums and babies with clefts for me to talk to and assess with regards to their feeding. They all turned up at once and so I was greeted by a room full of mums and babies all waiting to see me! I was absolutely in my element but completely overwhelmed. I was struck by how open the mums were and wanted to share their stories with me. They wanted to show me their babies to see what I had to say and if there was anything I could suggest and more importantly if they could try one of the new bottles that I had brought with me! During that first morning clinic, I started about 15 babies on the new bottles. I couldn’t believe how well they took to them. Even babies that were a few months old, who I wouldn’t expect to change so readily. Lorna, Bertha and Maureen (nurse on nutrition team) were very excited about how well the babies and their mothers seemed to adapt to the new bottles. They had never seen the bottles and teats before; they had only heard about them which is why they had asked me to bring them. Every mum who saw another baby with the ‘new bottle’ wanted to try their own baby on one with my guidance. Lorna, Bertha and Maureen quickly became confident with using the bottles and teats and started to teach the mums themselves how to use them safely and effectively.