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by David Lea Future citizens to be welcomed at this OTMH unit they are often sick with some kind of infectious disease. We often need to have them in a room by themselves so the more single rooms for isolation purposes the better." There is also a lot more space for the Special Care Nursery, which looks after babies born prematurely or who need special care. The new hospital features 10 bassinets, an increase of two, and a different design. "Our Special Care Nursery has privacy where all the bassinets are separated. So it is nice to have that privacy, where if you want to close the curtain and have a rest when your little one is resting, you can do that," said MacDonald. "It is no longer sort of a big `fishbowl' where everyone can see everyone." The new hospital also has two courtesy rooms for mothers who have babies in the Special Care Nursery. These rooms allow mothers to stay overnight if, for example, they are starting to establish breastfeeding. Another feature is the Care-by-Parent room. This room gives parents, whose baby has experienced an extended hospital stay, an opportunity to practice looking after their child in a controlled environment before going home. MacDonald said the operative birthing rooms, where cesarean sections are performed, and two resuscitation areas are also significantly larger, again allowing for family members to be present. "We know from the research and the literature that if the baby needs to be attended to, if there see Lots on p.7 5 | Thursday, December 10, 2015 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | www.insideHALTON.com Oakville Beaver Staff The new Oakville hospital's Maternal Child and Pediatrics units gave the Oakville Beaver a sneak peek last week of where many of the future members of this community will be born. Cindy MacDonald, program director of the Maternal Child Unit, began by noting the space in these areas is three to four times what is available at the legacy Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital (OTMH), which will close on Dec. 13 as the new hospital opens at Third Line and Dundas Street -- on a street called Hospital Gate. "We used to say at our old site, we practised family-centred care in spite of the limitations we had. If you've been there, you know how small the rooms are," said MacDonald. "Now, what this new site is going to do is really allow us to take family-centred care to the next level." The new hospital features 11 Labour Birth Recovery Postpartum (LBRP), single-patient rooms equipped with individual washrooms and showers. The existing hospital only has six LBRP singlepatient rooms, which are considerably smaller and have shared washrooms and no showers in the birthing area. MacDonald said the older rooms date back to a time when husbands often dropped their wives off at hospitals and waited somewhere else A patient room in the new Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital's Maternal Child Unit. | photo by Justin Greaves ­ Oakville Beaver (Follow on Twitter @halton_photog or facebook.com/HaltonPhotog) until the child was born. Times have changed, with family space available in the maternal child and pediatric areas, including a pullout couch in the LBRP rooms allowing a woman's partner to stay throughout the birth process. MacDonald said the family space is important because when a child goes to the hospital, the space allows a parent to stay with them and educate the doctor on what the child's behaviour is like. In the maternity area, the space allows both parents to be present and learn how to care for the baby before going home. The increased number of single-patient rooms is an important feature at the new hospital. "In the maternal-child area, it is nice to have the single rooms because it is inevitable one mom will get her baby settled and then the next baby will start to cry," said MacDonald. "In our pediatrics area, it's great because when kids come to the hospital, they are here because Since 1967 upholstery & design Merry Christmas The Baier's Family Wishing you all a very INJURED? I Can Help! YOU DON'T HAVE TO PAY UNLESS I GET YOU MONEY My team of experienced lawyers can help you with: · Car accidents · Slip and Falls · Disability Claims (Short-Term Disability, Long-Term Disability, CPP) · Wrongful Dismissal OFFICES IN OAKVILLE AND TORONTO For a free consultation call: Oakville: 905.842.2022 or Toronto: 416.351.9222 email: sspadafora@slspc.ca PLATINUM CUSTOM MADE NEW SOFAS & CHAIRS Bring us your design, 1000's of designer fabrics to choose. Sofas · Chairs · Headboards · Throw Pillows · Drapery & Hardware 11-2345 Wyecroft Rd, Oakville · 905.616.3156 · www.baiers.ca DIAMOND DIAMOND Voted Best Accountant by Oakville Beaver Readers for 9 Consecutive Years CPA, CA, MBA, B. Eng Ricky Wong W For more information please check our website www.rickywong.ca · Accounting · Auditing · Taxation 1200 Speers Rd., Unit 32, Oakville, Ont. L6L 2X4 (905) 845 - 1408 | Fax (905) 845 - 5931 Sam Spadafora Injury and Employment Law