Parents as partners in care: Lessons from the Baby Friendly Initiative in Exeter
Introduction
Neonatal staff have considered family centred care for decades. Visiting hours were extended to encompass the whole day, chairs were provided next to incubators, and parents were encouraged to be involved in care. So why so many families are still reporting dissatisfaction in care, traumatic responses to their neonatal experiences and for some, and a reduced attachment to their child?
Are parents truly partners in the care of their baby? Have we truly welcomed families to the neonatal unit? Have we, the neonatal team, kept the seat of power and been unwilling to share? Is it just easier to do our job alone and get on with caring for our babies on our neonatal unit?
It could be viewed, that as neonatal staff, we haven't been able to relinquish the power we hold. Neonatal staff are experts in saving the lives of extremely vulnerable infants. Parents are indebted to the neonatal team for saving the life of their precious baby, sometimes many times over. But what happens after survival? How can we try to minimise the unwanted effects of spending time on the neonatal unit? How do we support the baby and family to thrive together?
Section snippets
Parents as partners in care
One of the simplest answers to create a culture where parents are seen as partners in the care of their child may be to truly welcome families to the neonatal unit. Parents are not visitors, they are parents. When families, who come all shapes and sizes, are kept at the centre of care planning, they can feel more welcome, may feel slightly less scared, they stay with their baby for longer periods, they participate in care and decision making and they become part of the team, as equals. Their
Implementation of the Baby Friendly Initiative neonatal standards
The neonatal unit at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital is a level 2 neonatal unit with 26 cots with approximately 650 admissions per year. We chose the Baby Friendly Initiative (BFI) neonatal standards as a way to improve the family experience. The BFI standards for neonatal units provide a firm structure on which to base the changes needed to the current neonatal unit culture to truly acknowledge the importance of the family.
The three standards, developing close and loving relationships,
The Exeter experience
The neonatal unit at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital was the first neonatal unit to be accredited by the UNICEF Baby Friendly Initiative in the UK.
Initially we looked at how we welcomed families. It was found that a welcoming environment did not just mean lots of smiling nurses. It comes down to how comfortable families are made to feel staying in an unfamiliar environment so that you are not wanting to leave at every opportunity. For example, an upright, hard chair is not going to
Summary
There will be resistance and challenges to any changes that are required to enable parents to be true partners, so strong leadership, individualised staff support, clear visions of what true family centred care is, and using the parents voice are all principles in ensuring these changes in culture are embedded into practice. By keeping the family at the centre of everything, ensures that all families are treated with respect and dignity, every day. The Baby Friendly standards impacts on all
References (3)
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Cited by (7)
On “Parents’ Experiences With a Model of Integrated Maternity and Neonatal Care Designed to Empower Parents”
2021, JOGNN - Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, and Neonatal NursingIntegration of Maternity and Neonatal Care to Empower Parents
2020, JOGNN - Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, and Neonatal NursingMaintaining momentum
2019, Journal of Neonatal NursingListening to the parent voice to inform person-centred neonatal care
2019, Journal of Neonatal NursingCitation Excerpt :This person-centred approach can be seen as acknowledging the notion of holistic care that incorporates a person's context and individual preferences and beliefs, not limited to only the patient but to families and caregivers too (Santana et al., 2018). In line with a person-centred philosophy, the FIC model highlights how parents should be regarded as equal members of the neonatal unit multidisciplinary team (Read and Rattenbury, 2018). It follows that parents are a source of valuable information for students and staff working in neonatal care to learn from.
Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative for Neonatal Wards: impact on breastfeeding practices among preterm infants
2021, Revista Brasileira de EnfermagemWorking to create an oxytocin-rich environment on a busy postnatal ward
2020, Practising Midwife