A new ultrasound machine at Sunshine Coast University Hospital is assisting local women with complicated pregnancies access advanced rapid imaging, diagnostics and medical care.
The new equipment allows developing babies to be scanned in more detail at SCUH’s Maternal Fetal Medicine unit.
Maternal Fetal Medicine sub-specialist and obstetrician Dr Tom Prior said it facilitated advanced care for patients.
“The GE Voluson Expert 22 ultrasound machine particularly enables us to look in closer detail at the developing brain and the developing heart,” he said.
“The more we can look at the baby and the more we can see, the more it helps us to answer questions for people who have been told something in their pregnancy is not quite going to plan.
“The more information we can give people, the more empowered they are to make decisions about how they progress through their pregnancy.”
Dr Prior said patients are typically referred to him if they’ve had previous complicated pregnancies, when abnormalities are detected on routine scans and tests, or if they are having a complex twin or triplet pregnancy.
“While most pregnancies are straight forward, specialists are seeing an increasing number of complex pregnancies,” he said.
Dr Prior has undertaken extensive study and training to be able to carry out ultrasounds, interpret the imaging and counsel the patient all in one appointment.
“It can be a really emotionally charged appointment, often people come into the room very nervous and worried and they’ve often had sleepless nights waiting for this consultation.”
Dr Prior works alongside a fetal medicine midwife and an administration officer to deliver the service to the community.
“We’re really pleased to be able to offer this service locally on the Sunshine Coast, as we understand the stress these patients are experiencing and the frequency of appointments,” he said.
Meg and Ryan Erskine recently welcomed identical twin girls Matilda and Zoe into the world, after a ‘tumultuous’ journey.
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They were grateful to be able to access the Maternal Fetal Medicine service so close to home, with a number of complications presented during the pregnancy, including twin to twin transfusion syndrome, which is a rare pregnancy condition where twins share one placenta, which can cause an imbalance between the blood exchange between the twins.
Needing regular specialised care, Meg said they were pleased to be able to access the Maternal Fetal Medicine service so close to home.
“Finding out we were having twins was the first big milestone, and then when things started to go wrong and a few other hiccups happened during the pregnancy, it was definitely a very overwhelming time and it was really scary,” she said.
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“We didn’t know if we were going to be bringing anyone home, or one baby home, or both, so having those frequent scans and seeing Dr Prior a lot was really helpful to try and keep our anxiety at bay.”
Meg initially had appointments with Dr Prior once a fortnight, but they became almost every third day towards the end of the pregnancy.
“The fact that when things were going wrong, which unfortunately they were a lot, we had someone that we could not only speak to but also actually come and see in person locally was fantastic.”
Ryan said having consistency in the people caring for them throughout their journey made a big difference.
“Having Dr Prior doing all of our scans really gave us a lot of comfort and put us at rest that we were getting the most high quality diagnostic imaging that could help for him to make decisions,” he said.
The new parents are now enjoying life at home with newborns and are waiting for their first smiles any day now.
“It’s been really exciting to take them home and have that enjoyment of having healthy kids at home that we thought we might never have got,” Ryan said.
