Special Care Baby Unit achieves first stage of prestigious Unicef award | News

Royal Surrey’s Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU) is on track to become one of Unicef UK’s fully accredited neonatal units for the Baby Friendly Initiative (BFI).

The Trust has successfully passed stage one of the assessment to join the prestigious list that currently contains just 15 other units across the UK. 

Assessors praised the neonatal unit for its progress and thoroughness of approach in delivering the three BFI accreditation’s key standards of care, which include supporting parents to build close and loving relationships with their baby, sharing the importance of breast milk and breastfeeding, and helping parents become partners in care for their premature or unwell newborn.

The unit was recognised for making significant improvements, such as providing 10 dedicated bays that facilitate parents to stay with their baby 24/7 while they are in hospital. Staff were also commended for introducing thoughtful ‘Thank you for my milk’ cards to encourage mums to express breast milk for their premature babies.

Fiona England, Practice Development Sister on SCBU, said: “We wanted to promote the benefits of breast milk and breastfeeding in a tangible way but without overwhelming parents. We came up with the idea of delivering little cards that say, ‘Thank you Mummy for my milk,’ which can be given whether mums are in the postnatal ward expressing milk or staying in SCBU.

“Each card has a note about the benefits of breast milk, so it might say, ‘This really helps my brain development’ or ‘This will help protect me against infections’ and we also say ‘Thank you Daddy for bringing my milk’, so dads feel valued too.”

To encourage parents to bond with their newborn and become fully involved partners in their care, staff also now train mums and dads to carry out tube-feeding for their little one, involve parents in the ward rounds, and help them have skin-to-skin cuddles, which benefit both parent and baby.

The SCBU team has also made a video virtual tour of the unit to prepare parents, such as those having twins or triplets or attending high-risk antenatal clinics, about what to expect if their baby is admitted to SCBU.

Fiona said: “I’m really proud of what the team has achieved so far. Passing stage one of the BFI accreditation means we’ve established firm foundations, embedding the three neonatal standards in our culture, documentation, teaching and behaviours.

“Ultimately, we’re aiming for parents to be active in their baby’s care and be able to build a close and loving relationship with them.

“We know that if we give parents confidence to look after their baby while in SCBU, they’re more likely feel excited rather than nervous and apprehensive when it’s time to take their baby home. Everything we’re doing is about valuing parents as being the most important people in their babies’ lives.”

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 absolutely delighted that SCBU has achieved the BFI Stage One accreditation and is now set to progress to the next stage. This important programme is vital to help us improve outcomes for premature babies and their families by minimising separation, empowering parents to take centre stage in baby’s care and sharing valuable feeding knowledge and expertise. Congratulations to all those involved.”

The second stage of the three-stage accreditation process will involve assessors interviewing nursing staff and clinical leads and is due to take place in June.