The system has proven benefits, from increased breastfeeding to improved long-term development.
[post_ads_2]arents
of newborn premature babies often find themselves feeling helpless when
they see their baby hooked up to countless machines in the NICU, with
their child's life entirely in others' hands. But one UK hospital is
working to change the situation so that parents are more involved with
their baby's care in what they're calling a "family integrated care
system." The system trains parents to care for their preemies so that in
a matter of weeks, will be pros at handling everyday care such as
temperature taking, feeding, and even inserting nasogastric feeding
tubes, according to the BBC.
While
some may worry about the dangers of placing this sensitive care in the
hands of parents, the nurses and medical staff ensure that the parents
receive thorough training and are watched carefully until they do
everything just right. Dr. Liz McKechnie, a neonatologist at St. James's
University Hospital in Leeds, told the BBC that the family integrated
care system was not created to cut costs for the hospital and that no
one has been laid off. On the contrary, nurses are spending more time
training the parents than they would have caring for the babies
themselves, but so far, the results have been worth it.
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Breastfeed
rates have increased, long-term development of the babies is improving,
and families are bringing their preemies home from the hospital much
sooner, simply by placing the parents "at the very center of the team
caring for the baby," McKechnie told the BBC. "It is not rocket science,
it is such a straightforward thing to do, to allow parents to look
after their babies."
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While this family
integrated care system may seem new and innovative, the idea was
actually sparked in the 1970s at a hospital in the Soviet Union. Facing
an influx of premature babies and not enough nurses to care for them,
the hospital began giving parents a greater role in NICU purely out of
necessity, only to find that the babies were thriving from regular "skin
to skin" contact with their mothers, according to the BBC. Thirty years
later, other hospitals around the world are beginning to adopt the
system, which has already been implemented in countries such as Canada,
Australia, and New Zealand.
"The
fact is that families are going home more confident and more able to
care for their babies, and that means a lot," McKechnie said. "Nobody
wants to stop it; it is definitely here to stay. Everybody can see the
benefits of it."
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