SCBU puts parents centre stage in ward round | News

A new initiative by Royal Surrey’s Maternity Services is helping parents of premature or poorly babies in the Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU) play a lead role in ward rounds.

The move recognises that parents are ideally placed to present their baby to doctors during ward rounds and that this encourages them to be active partners in their care.

To make taking part in the rounds easier for mums and dads, Dr Daisy Dunn, Paediatric Registrar, created a helpful information sheet with suggestions of the details to give. The list includes, baby’s age and weight, an update on how feeding is progressing, what baby likes/dislikes and whether they have had skin-to-skin cuddles.

Joanne Macleod, Consultant Neonatal Nurse, said: “The idea behind our initiative is that mums and dads know their baby best, they remember the important dates without needing to look them up and they can tell us all the nitty gritty details of what’s happened. We can see the information from the notes but they can give us a more rounded picture.

“By encouraging parents to lead the ward round discussion and actively take part, we can build confidence, reduce worry, help them ask questions and empower them to be expert partners in their baby’s care.

“If parents are included and central to their baby’s care while they’re with us, it means that when it’s time to take baby home, they leave feeling more confident and in control.”

Just one week after launching, the initiative is still in its infancy but already the feedback from parents has been extremely positive.

Royal Surrey’s SCBU is highly regarded for its high standards of family-centred care. Last year the unit was awarded the Bliss Baby Charter Gold Award and passed Stage 1 and 2 of Unicef UK’s Baby Friendly Initiative. The BFI accreditation means the unit is on track to join a prestigious list of neonatal units that currently contains just 15 other units in the UK. 

Louise Stead, Chief Executive Officer is also the Trust’s Baby Friendly Guardian, responsible for promoting, protecting and supporting the BFI standards. She said: “I’m extremely proud of our SCBU team who consistently work hard to improve outcomes for premature babies and their families. The new initiative to put parents centre stage in the doctors’ ward round is another important step in this journey. Well done to all those involved.”

Pictured above Joanne Macleod and Una Jameson from the SCBU team.