Monash Newborn
Monash Newborn
Monash Newborn at Monash Children’s Hospital, Clayton provides exceptional care and treatment for sick and premature babies.
Monash Medical Centre, Clayton is the only Victorian hospital where both newborn baby and mother can be treated on site if they both require intensive care. Monash Newborn is also the largest of the four Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU) in Victoria.
Phone: (03) 8572 3650
About us
About us
Monash Newborn at Monash Children’s Hospital, Clayton provides exceptional care and treatment for sick and premature babies.
Our experienced team of eleven neonatologists (neonatal paediatricians) and neonatal nursing staff deliver 24 hour specialist care to ensure the best possible outcomes for the 1500 babies admitted every year.
Monash Newborn provides 64 fully staffed cots – 32 each in our Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and our Special Care Nursery (SCN). In our NICU there are mostly two cots per room and in our SCN, mostly three cots per room. To provide exceptional care for such large numbers of sick and premature babies the nursery has been divided into two teams – Kingfisher and Sunbird.
Monash Newborn at the new Monash Children’s Hospital has been designed to deliver family-centred health care based on a partnership between parents, staff and the extended family. The new rooms have much greater space, more privacy and enable families to actively participate in the care of their baby. There are also designated family areas and facilities including ‘rooming in’ rooms where the family can stay overnight or longer before taking their baby home.
The babies in Monash Newborn may have been born at Monash Medical Centre, Clayton but some come from other hospitals, regional areas and occasionally other states. Many arrive via the Paediatric Infant Perinatal Emergency Retrieval (PIPER) service which transfers very sick newborns and infants between hospitals in Victoria.
Our babies may require medical or surgical treatment. Some may have had medical conditions identified before birth by our renowned Fetal Diagnostic Unit and require medical or surgical intervention before and after birth.
Following birth and admission to Monash Newborn, parents receive a discharge or transfer plan for their baby and may also be referred to other specialist services. After discharge, selected groups of babies are followed up at our special Growth and Development Clinic which focuses on the first two years of life.
Our logo
Monash Newborn’s logo represents a nesting place, inspired by the idea that nests are soft, warm places where small things are nurtured. The heart shaped egg symbolises the fragile lives we care for, the love of their families and the care of our staff.
Our team
For the full list of the senior staff, please click here.
Research
Monash Newborn research
At Monash Newborn we care for more than 1500 sick and premature babies, and their families, every year. Research is an important part of what we do; conducting research allows us to identify new ways to improve the care provided to the babies we look after. Our research team has particular expertise in the areas of newborn brain injury, heart and circulatory function, and breathing support for premature babies. We are very grateful to all of the families who choose for their infants to participate in research, helping us to improve how we look after babies in the future.
Notable achievements in 2017
In 2017, three Monash Newborn researchers published articles in The New England Journal of Medicine, the world’s leading medical journal. Dr. Elizabeth Carse published a study assessing the lung function of premature babies at eight years of age, identifying important issues that these children face as they grow older. Professor Arvind Sehgal published a study assessing the potential benefits of delayed cord clamping for premature babies born at less than 30 weeks. Dr. Kenneth Tan co-authored a study investigating whether fatty acid supplements added to feeds are helpful for preterm infants.
Publication highlights for 2017:
- Tarnow-Mordi W, Morris J, Kirby A, Sehgal A, et al, for the Australian Placental Transfusion Study Collaborative Group. Delayed versus Immediate Cord Clamping in Preterm Infants. N Engl J Med 2017;377:2445-55.
- Doyle LW, Carse E, Adams AM, et al. Ventilation in Extremely Preterm Infants and Respiratory Function at 8 Years. N Engl J Med 2017;377:329-37.
- Collins CT, Makrides M, McPhee AJ, Tan K, et al. Docosahexaenoic Acid and Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia in Preterm Infants. N Engl J Med 2017;376:1245-55.
Current research projects
Current research projects at Monash Newborn are shown in our research information leaflet.
Our researchers
The members of our research team have a wide range of expertise, and are affiliated with a number of our partner organisations, including Monash University, The Hudson Institute, and The Ritchie Centre.
Associate Professor Flora Wong
Associate Professor Flora Wong’s research interests are in newborn brain blood flow and oxygenation in relation to brain injury in sick newborn infants. Read more about her research here.
Dr Atul Malhotra
Dr Atul Malhotra’s research focuses on improving long-term outcomes of high risk newborn infants. One of his areas of research includes stem cell therapies to prevent and treat neonatal brain and lung conditions. Read more here.
Dr Calum Roberts
Dr Calum Roberts has an interest in neonatal resuscitation and breathing support, particularly for preterm infants. He chairs the Monash Newborn Respiratory and Resuscitation Group. Find out more about Calum’s research here.
Professor Arvind Sehgal
Professor Arvind Sehgal’s clinical and research interest is in functional echocardiography in critical care, especially those with pulmonary hypertension and growth restriction. Arvind regularly chairs and conducts echocardiography workshops at international paediatric conferences. Read more about his research here.
