More newborns with jaundice ‘should go home with mother’
THOUSANDS of sick newborns should be sent home with their mothers instead of being placed on special care units, a report urges today.
Skin to skin contact with a mother is vitally important within the first few hours of birth as it helps to regulate the baby’s breathing, heartbeat and temperature.
It also enables the pair to bond – which may help development later on – as well as encouraging breastfeeding.
A report by NHS Improvement urges doctors to allow mothers to stay with newborns wherever possible, either at home or in hospital.
The regulator’s recommendations do not cover premature babies, who need to be admitted to neonatal care units as their organs may not be properly developed. They are aimed at the thousands of infants born ‘to term’ – between 37 and 40 weeks – with jaundice, low blood sugar or breathing problems.
Around 90,000 babies are admitted to neonatal intensive care wards every year and the numbers have increased by 24 per cent since 2011. Skin-to-skin contact essentially involves placing the baby on top of the mother, possibly with a cap on its head for warmth.
The mother releases a calming hormone, oxytocin, which is thought to regulate the baby’s breathing, heartbeat and temperature.
Today’s report recommends that babies
‘About getting the balance right’
who are not severely ill are allowed home with their mothers and brought back for tests and treatments. Those with more severe complications should be kept on the wards with their mothers while they are treated.
Dr Mike Durkin, NHS national director of patient safety, said: ‘This is about getting the balance right so babies who need specialist treatment are identified and admitted as soon as possible, while being sure that for those babies where it is safe to do so they can be are kept with their mothers.’
Birte Harlev-Lam, maternity and children clinical director at NHS Improvement, said: ‘As a midwife I know how important it is for mums and their babies to spend those very special few hours after birth together. This time is vital for a baby’s health and development.
When a baby needs additional care shortly after birth, separating them from their mother causes stress for both mother and baby which can also impact on a baby’s ability to breastfeed or regulate its temperature.’
Breathing problems are one of the most common reasons babies are put on intensive care and there are 32,000 admissions year. Another 2,700 babies are admitted for jaundice, which can be treated with light therapy though babies may recover on their own as long as they are properly fed.
Cathy Warwick, chief executive of the Royal College of Midwives said: ‘ It is critical if we are to ensure safe high quality care that the findings of this report are implemented.
‘We must reduce unnecessary admissions to neonatal intensive care unit and readmissions to hospital. Mothers and babies should never be separated unless this is absolutely necessary.
‘Not only is this important in terms of a mother’s experience of care but also for the long term health and well-being of her baby.’