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Neonatal November 2017

  • Celebrating Milestone days for neonatal families and neonatal unit staff

      17 November 2017
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    Posting this update on World Prematurity Day - a day on which we have co-ordinated volunteers across New Zealand to organise morning tea for each Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU).

    This is both for the families of babies in the units and also the wonderful staff who look after the precious babies.

    Purple is the colour of World Prematurity Day and we provided purple tablecloths, balloons, napkins, etc to help the celebrations be on theme

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  • Supporting neonatal research

      15 November 2017
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    One of the three core objectives of The Neonatal Trust is to aid neonatal-related medical research - we're proud to do this, as it creates enhanced outcomes for thousands of future neonatal babies.

    Note: All research we support has appropriate ethics sign off.

    For example, Dr Max Berry and her team of researchers and clinicians are undertaking some remarkable work into:

    * the enhanced understanding of the long-term impacts of prematurity

    * improving the practices for blood transfusions and other key care given to neonatal babies

    * looking into the effect of nutrition in the first month of life.

    An insight into the world of neonatal research can be read in this story from the Generosity Journal (which is produced by the wonderful One Percent Collective): https://goo.gl/dxBrFw

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  • La Z Boys for Kangaroo Cuddles

      14 November 2017
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    Comfortable chairs are critical for the long hours spent in a neonatal unit, plus for great comfort when having skin-to-skin 'Kangaroo cuddles' and general cuddles. The chairs are leather to ensure that they don’t wear quickly and can also be easily cleaned to clean to keep hygenic and reduce the chance of picking up bugs and infections.

    An overview on Kangaroo Cuddles here: https://goo.gl/vlDYPt

    A great video on Kangaroo Cuddles here:

    https://www.facebook.com/omeletocom/videos/10154119067024494/

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  • Support resources for parents on a stressful journey

      14 November 2017
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    Neonatal journeys can be full of stress and anxiety. To help, we have developed a number of easy to read support resources on a range of different topics. These have been developed working with parents who have been there, and then checked by clinical staff.

    Here's a few examples (copy and paste the link into your browser):

    - Health and Wellbeing (REF): https://goo.gl/tcsHp6

    - Reading to your Baby: https://goo.gl/PLJXo2

    - Tips for Dads: https://goo.gl/rNXd0V

    - Your Emotions: https://goo.gl/rYB0Vm

    - Leaving the Unit: https://goo.gl/tDO2YW

    - Kangaroo Cuddles: https://goo.gl/vlDYPt

    - Bonding with your baby: https://goo.gl/RES7BW

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  • Sharing personal stories

      13 November 2017
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    We share personal stories on our website and in the media in order to raise awareness.

    Also, we get a lot of feedback from parents in the units that reading these stories gives them strength and hope knowing others have experienced similar journeys.

    Examples of stories include (copy and paste into your browser):

    https://www.neonataltrust.org.nz/2017/05/11/ethans-early-arrival-and-journey

    https://www.neonataltrust.org.nz/2017/03/21/neonatal-twins-celebrate-their-first-birthday

    https://www.neonataltrust.org.nz/2017/02/21/elis-13-week-journey

    https://www.neonataltrust.org.nz/2016/12/13/marvel-our-own-micah%E2%80%99s-story

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  • Support example - helping with providing a patient voice into enhanced care

      13 November 2017
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    We help to provide a patient voice for work that is reviewing and enhancing the clinical care of babies on a neonatal journey in New Zealand.

    The Neonatal Trust is proud to work alongside the clinical and research teams who deliver expert support to the 5,000+ babies cared for in neonatal units in New Zealand EVERY YEAR. Working with them, we can:

    * help to get a 'patient voice' and direct feedback from those who have been on a neonatal journey

    * assist researchers and working groups to get participants for their various studies

    More details, and an example of a current survey, can be seen here (cut and paste into your browser):

    https://www.neonataltrust.org.nz/2017/11/08/parental-involvement-enhancement-neonatal-care

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