Emma said it was an easy decision to put her hand up to go to Dubbo, but couldn’t have done so without the support from her team at RNSH. “While I work at RNSH, we are all part of the NSW Health system, and our colleagues were asking for help,” she said. “Mikaela and I work with a great team who worked incredibly hard to enable two staff members to be freed up to assist our colleagues in Dubbo. “To me this was not about two nurses going to Dubbo, it was an entire department looking at what they could do to provide support to Western NSW in a time of need.” Hornsby Hospital Critical Care Nurse Consultant
Hornsby Hospital Critical Care Nurse Consultant Wenche Kverneland with SES volunteer Iris Smith
do so at home. “I provide wellbeing checks and COVID-19 swabs for those who are self-isolating in the community supported accommodation,” Wenche said. “Together with other NSW Health staff, we are working with the SES and RFS to assist with the operations by providing logistical support. “It’s really nice to be able to help in some way and the people are so lovely.” Chief Executive Deb Willcox said she was very Professor Jonathan Morris said women with gestational diabetes have higher rates of complications such as pre-eclampsia and may develop diabetes later in life. The RNSH maternal-fetal medicine specialist said there can be complications for babies of mothers with gestational diabetes too, with these babies more likely to be large. “We have seen a significant increase in the rates of gestational diabetes
proud of staff for putting themselves forward to help out. “This is a very difficult time for these communities and being able to contribute is a very important and probably life-changing experience for our staff,” she said. “Thank you to all our staff who have kindly agreed to work outside of your roles, away from your workplace and colleagues – and in some cases your families and loved ones – and assist in our whole-of-health system response.” since 2010 following new recommendations which lowered the threshold for diagnosis,” he said. “While more women have been diagnosed with this type of diabetes, our research team found there’s also been a rise in the number of interventions including planned births or caesarean sections, leading to more babies being born before 40 weeks without a clear improvement in health outcomes for women and their babies.
Wenche Kverneland is currently based in Wilcannia.
Wenche has been helping with setting up community supported accommodation for close contacts to self- isolate safely if they can’t
Outcomes not improving for women with gestational diabetes Researchers are calling
for a reduction in medical interventions and a more personalised approach for women at risk of gestational diabetes. The call follows an analysis of all births in New South Wales over a 10-year period, which found the incidence of gestational diabetes had more than doubled and now affects up to 15 per cent of pregnant women. Director of the Kolling Institute’s Women and Babies Research team,
WWW.NSLHD.HEALTH.NSW.GOV.AU
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