Joyful guard of honour for baby Nyra at Monash Children’s Hospital
- 1 min read
There are moments in life that stay with you forever. For new parents, Maushmi and Manthan Parikh, the long-awaited day they took their daughter, Nyra, home for the first time will be a lifelong highlight.
For Nyra’s parents, the team at Monash Children’s Hospital helped turn an incredibly difficult journey into a hopeful new chapter.
‘We are taking our Nyra home after 9 and a half months,’ Maushmi said. ‘It’s the best day of my life. In our culture, Diwali is the biggest festival that we celebrate. But today is Diwali for me because I’m taking my baby home!’
The beginning of the family’s next chapter is a testament to the dedication, skill, and teamwork that underpin care at Monash Children’s Hospital.
The journey begins
Nyra’s journey began when she and her twin sister, Niya, were born extremely prematurely at 22 weeks and 6 days gestation at Monash Medical Centre. Shortly after birth, the girls were transferred to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at adjoining Monash Children’s Hospital for specialist care.
The family experienced heartbreaking loss when at 4-months of age Niya died.
Nyra continued to face significant medical challenges linked to her extreme prematurity. In February, she was transferred to the Royal Children’s Hospital for tracheostomy surgery, before returning to MCH.
The family experienced frightening moments along the way, but Manthan says Nyra’s strength continued to shine through.
‘She is cheeky. She just needs cuddles all day, and she will be happy,’ said Manthan.
An emotional farewell
For staff, seeing the family go home is deeply meaningful.
‘They’ve been with us for such a long time, and their moment has finally come. Seeing them go home is just magic,’ shared Clare Hellyer, NICU Nurse Unit Manager.
‘A lot of our babies, particularly in the early days, become like family, and us to them.’
‘To see such a sick little baby at the start be able to go home, it’s really satisfying, and it’s why we love what we do every day.’
The farewell reflects the close bonds that can form between families and care teams during an extended hospital stay.
‘I don’t think I slept last night because I was so excited,’ shared Hollie Montgomery, Interim Tracheostomy and Respiratory Paediatric Clinical Nurse Consultant.
‘It’s been such an honor and a privilege to walk with them through this journey and to walk them out of the doors of the hospital.’
Teamwork makes the dream work!
Nyra’s care involved teams from across Monash Children’s Hospital.
‘It’s not just medical and nursing; it’s our cleaners, our support workers, our biomedical engineers, our sleep team, our ward clerks, our administrators. It’s everyone grouping together as a whole to be able to get to this moment,’ said Hollie.
‘She’s journeyed through our Neonatal Intensive Care Unit into our Paediatric Intensive Care Unit and then has called 4a Canopy home as we’ve prepared to discharge her home.’
The family is profoundly grateful to everyone who played a part in Nyra’s care.
‘I’m so excited, as well as so grateful to each and every one here,’ Maushmi said.
‘Be it a doctor, be it a nurse, or be it the cleaner, everyone has considered Nyra as their own. She’s not only my baby; she’s everyone’s baby here.’
For Manthan, the hospital had become more than a place of care.
‘We call the hospital our home because we have spent almost 10 months in hospital,’ he said. ‘The staff, doctors, nurses, everyone was really amazing.’
A new chapter
For Nyra’s going home, Maushmi and Manthan prepared a carefully equipped and welcoming bedroom, complete with Mickey Mouse decorations and a pink and purple colour scheme.
Nyra remains on a ventilator and will require ongoing breathing support.
She will continue to need 24-hour monitoring, with support workers, funded through the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), assisting her family.
In preparation for her going home, Monash Children’s Hospital staff trained her parents and support workers in tracheostomy and ventilator care.
Monash Children’s Hospital will continue to support Nyra through ongoing outpatient care.
This will include Hospital at Home and the Complex Care Team, who help coordinate and advocate for Nyra’s care needs. As well as respiratory, ear, nose and throat, physiotherapy, dietetics, speech pathology, and occupational therapy.
