Sophie celebrated 100 days of life after she was born at just 25 weeks gestation, weighing 858 grams and measuring 32 cm.
Sophie's mum Kim McDonald said she spent much of the past three months at the Mercy Hospital for Women, returning to GV Health’s special care nursery two weeks ago.
Due to a collaborative agreement between GV Health and the Royal Women’s Hospital, premature babies can now return to GV Health earlier than ever before and receive ongoing treatment locally, according to GV Health’s maternity services manager Carmel Brophy.
“Premature babies like Sophie require special eye tests,” Ms Brophy said.
“A nurse from the Royal Women’s Hospital visits Sophie here and conducts the eye test so that we don’t have to send her back to Melbourne for assessment.”
Ms McDonald praised GV Health for its ongoing efforts and thanked the staff who provided care when her daughter Macie, 2, was born at 32 weeks.
“GV Health has been like a second home for me and the staff have been so lovely and supportive,” she said.
“A lot of the staff are the same from when Macie was born too, so it’s nice to see them again.”
Ms McDonald said Sophie was likely to head home next week, when she would meet her sister for the first time.
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