Pioneering treatment reduces baby’s hospital stay
Date of release: 1 November 2023
A baby boy has become the first to receive a pioneering long-term home phototherapy treatment thanks to a Wolverhampton community Neonatal Team.
NCOT manager Tammy Franks with baby Xavier Hussain in the "Billicocoon" and Xavier's mother Dr. Marsha Mansour
Xavier Ibrahim Izaz Hussain – the second child of Dr Marsha Mansoor and her husband Izaz Hussain was the first recipient of long-term phototherapy after he was born at New Cross Hospital on 12 September this year.
Both of the couple’s babies were diagnosed with Rhesus disease, which is a condition where antibodies in a pregnant woman's blood destroy her baby's blood cells.
Rhesus disease doesn't harm the mother, but it can cause the baby to become anaemic and develop newborn jaundice. Jaundice causes yellowing of the skin and eyes from the build-up of bilirubin in the blood, a yellow substance produced when red blood cells are broken down.
It can be treated with phototherapy and immunoglobulin which sees a newborn baby placed under a blue light to lower the bilirubin levels.
This normally takes a few days but for the couple’s first baby Zidaan Mohamed, who is now two and a half, he had to stay in hospital for a month as his billrubin levels were so high.
Marsha, 34, said: “With Zidaan we had to stay in hospital for a month so he could go under the blue light 24/7, whilst also being treated for sepsis and bacterial meningitis. It was a very hard time and when I found out my second baby also had Rhesus disease I mentally prepared myself for another month in hospital.
“Wolverhampton Neonatal Community Outreach Team (NCOT) said Xavier could have the phototherapy treatment at home, however, which was a real game changer for me. It meant we only had to stay in hospital for 10 days rather than six weeks.
“It meant I could look after my two children in the comfort of my home and has made things so much easier for us. I cannot thank the team enough.”
Training to be a specialist Doctor under the Black Country NHS Foundation Trust, Marsha said she knows the limitations and difficulties staff come up against.
She said: “I know the pressures the team are up against and I can truly say the care my baby and I have received has been first class.
“The NCOT team are fantastic with such amazing nurses – I want to thank Tammy, Becky and Laura for their care. They have been so kind. I would also like to thank the brilliant teams on the Transitional Care Ward, Gynaecology and Obstetrics Department, Anaesthetics Team, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and Paediatric Outpatient Department for the exceptional care we received which made such a scary journey less traumatic.”
Xavier was treated in his home in Bilston, with monitoring by the NCOT Team, for six weeks. He was kept in a blanket which provided the phototherapy light 24/7 other than when he needed changing or feeding.
Marsha said: “I cannot thank the team enough; they have been so supportive and if I needed them at any time I just had to text. The direct accessibility to Consultant level advice via the NCOT and Haematology Nurse Practioner Catherine gave me so much relief when Xavier needed two blood transfusions. And I never felt alone, I am so grateful for the care.
“They have been very open-minded and now his jaundice has gone down we have been discharged which is great news.”
Tammy Franks, Community Neonatal Specialist Nurse/Manager Transitional Care, said: “Home phototherapy treatment is a safe alternative to treatment in hospital for jaundice which has economic advantages but, more importantly, mum and baby are kept together at home with their families reducing stress and promoting mother and baby bonding and increased parental satisfaction.
“I am very proud as NCOT Manager that we can provide the home phototherapy service to support and empower parents to look after their babies at home.”
ENDS
- For further information, please email amy.downward@nhs.net
