Predictions for 2010
Towards the end of 2009, I had a call from a registrar in the National Maternity Hospital looking for the contact details for Anglea O’Riordan, our Down Syndrome Liaison Nurse. They had two babies born with Down syndrome that week and were anxious to make contact.
Angela had previously spent some number of weeks making contact with the maternity hospitals and the neonatal teams as she introducing herself and the service she hoped to provide. So for me, this call came as confirmation that Angela’s role had been acknowledged. And on further conversation with the Registrar, she said, “Angela is going to be one busy lady!”. That’s when I knew that the Down Syndrome Liaison Nursing Service was a keeper.
Yes, the maternity hospitals would use the service. And yes, they could see the value of having a service of this kind at their disposal.
Angela took up her post in June 2009. She spent the first few months learning about the disability and the last four or five months she has been actively meeting new parents with all referrals coming to her from Dublin maternity hospitals. Already, there are 21 families whom she liaises with in Dublin, Kildare and Wicklow, all of whom have given birth to a baby with Down syndrome in recent months.Multiply that out to a 12 month period and you can see that the NMH Registrar was right in her prediction!
With Joan Murphy gone from AMNCH and Prof Hoey due to retire in 2010, it becomes more compelling for us to grow our service to other parts of the country. Obviously, because there are children being born in others areas than just Dublin and its environs. But most importantly because it is necessary to grow and maintain a level of professional expertise on Down syndrome for the future of all people with the disability. Our knowledge capital will be decimated by the end of the year.
Our vision is to grow the service to fund the appointment of further liaison nurses to Cork and Galway and we hope to raise funds for this purpose through the Buy My Dress events which will take place in these locations on 20th May. However, we will need to raise further income to support the salaries and therefore will require the support of people living in these areas.If you live in Galway or Cork, are you happy to support us in this way? I hope so. And I would value hearing your thoughts and opinions.
Earlier today, I had an email on foot of my last blog in which I asked for suggestions as to what we might do to support new parents. A parent contacted me to suggest that we try to develop a parent mentoring service as in the USA which puts new parents in touch with existing parents and put herself forward. I know that many counties are already doing something similar but if you would like to put your name down as a volunteer in this way with Down Syndrome Centre, I’ d love to hear from you.
© Sheila Campbell, DSC 2010
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