Project
Clinical specialist cardiac neonatal physiotherapist, Rachel McConnell works with babies with congenital heart disease and their families. The condition affects the way the heart works for almost 1 in 100 babies born in the UK.
Rachel is establishing a developmental care programme for these babies in hospital, as there is evidence to show that the early weeks and months of a baby’s brain development is a critical time to encourage attachment.
The team she is leading includes physiotherapy, occupational therapy, nurses, and the play team together with speech and language therapists and dietitians.
The innovative project, which is funded by the Children’s Heart Unit Fund (CHUF), is believed to be the first of its kind in cardiac centres in the country.
What this means for staff
The team are delivering training for health professionals across the Trust to recognise how all babies are unique and communicate by their behaviour, supporting staff to help parents to nurture their baby whilst in hospital.
How this benefits patients
Skin-to-Skin Care – also known as Kangaroo care – has been proven to have many health benefits for babies and parents.
However a hospital environment can make this practise difficult for many different reasons. Even cuddling and touching their baby can challenging for new parents when their baby is attached to medical equipment.
The team are working with colleagues such as occupational therapy via The Sensational Thinking Project and medical engineering to create more nurturing baby friendly environments including cots and nurseries on the wards.
They also organised the first Koala cuddle day to support families to hold and touch their baby and also support staff to work innovatively to overcome perceived barriers to skin-to-skin care within the cardiac unit.
How we helped
Charlotte, our innovation business manager, has connected Rachel to a manufacturer to produce curtains suitable for the nature and nurture theme of the baby nursery on ward 23.
The innovation team has also provided communications support to raise awareness of Rachel’s innovative new role of clinical specialist cardiac neonatal physiotherapist, along with the project and the Koala cuddle day.
The team has also supported building some of the resources for the project including parent’s information.
Next steps
The team is developing resources for these parents to help guide them in everyday care for their babies including changing their nappy, weighing them and transferring them in and out of their cots whilst using technique to keep them calm.
What would you say to colleagues who have an idea to develop?
It’s worth speaking to the innovation team as they can provide tailored support and specialised expertise for your project. There are so many people who can support with a project in ways we may not have thought of.”
