Special baby monitor donated to Barnstaple hospital

A vital piece of diagnostic equipment has been presented to the special care baby unit (SCBU) at North Devon District Hospital in Barnstaple.

The cerebral function monitor was paid for by the League of Friends and POPSI (Parents of Premature and Sick Infants).

It is used when there has been a difficult birth or the baby's brain has been starved of oxygen. When this happens, brain cells can start to die.

If babies are 'cooled' immediately, and for a few days after birth, this can stop further brain damage.

The monitor looks at a baby's brainwaves and detects if the infant needs therapeutic cooling or not. If so, the baby is transferred to Derriford Hospital in Plymouth.

Liz Mills, SCBU manager, said: "We are indebted to both POPSI and the League of Friends for providing the funds for our new cerebral function monitor.

"The monitor is an extremely useful piece of equipment which could make a lifetime of difference to the future of many babies and their families."

POPSI raised £5,000 for the monitor while the League of Friends provided £10,000.

The monitor is the latest piece of equipment to be supplied by the League of Friends which, although no longer based at the hospital, is still active.

Its fundraising committee holds table top sales, jumble sales, quiz nights, dances, coffee mornings and cream teas.

Members also enjoy a lunch at the Park Hotel, Barnstaple, on the last Thursday of every month at 12.30pm.

The league was set up in 1970 at a public meeting. Since then it has raised over £2million to benefit NDDH and patient welfare.

Over the past year alone it has given items and equipment worth £47,243.

This includes seating, tables and toys for the day surgery department, hoist and slings, and a radio frequency generator for the vascular surgery department.