Neonatal intensive care is not an easy experience for babies, or for their
parents or even for medical and nursing staff. Added to which we have all
seen reports about the developmental problems that affect some premature
babies. The good news is that there are ways to make intensive care less
stressful that also improve developmental outcomes. Research shows that
the best way to achieve this is a developmental care programme called NIDCAP
(which stands for Newborn Individualised Developmental Care and Assessment
Programme). The Winnicott Baby Unit was the first neonatal unit in Britain
to introduce this approach and continues to have the most advanced programme
of its kind, led by highly trained specialists.
The NIDCAP is based on observation of babies to find out how they feel,
how they are coping with their surroundings and events, and what developmental
stage they are at. This allows us to adjust the care to make it more personal,
to provide more comfort and appropriate stimulation. Parents are very
involved in this process. If you have ever been in any other neonatal
intensive care unit you will appreciate how quite it is in our unit, how
bright lighting is avoided and how babies are comfortably nested in their
incubators. To help parents feel confident in caring for their tiny, fragile
baby we have specialist help to show them how to comfort and communicate
with their baby from the very beginning.
It takes a lot of skill to be able to do this and we provide a variety
of educational programmes and resources that are funded by the Winnicott
Foundation, which also helps us to keep up to date by helping us to maintain
links with leading centres around the world. We have been able to buy
equipment that allows us to provide a more sensitive environment for babies,
including incubators that reduce noise and make it easier to handle babies
gently, and smaller items that make life more comfortable, such as specially
made nests. Information for parents is also provided and bursaries fro
staff training and conferences are also funded by the Winnicott Foundation.
As more and more people around Britain begin to realise the advantages
of this way of caring for babies we are increasingly asked to share our
expertise with other centres through workshops and conferences. Funding
for this is supported by the Winnicott Foundation.
Your donations will help us to provide this care to babies in the Winnicott
Baby Unit and around the UK. |
