Team’s Goal is to Get Premature Babies Home Earlier

Mums will be able to look after their premature babies at home thanks to a specialist team at Lincoln County Hospital.

Previously, mums and babies have stayed on Nocton Ward at Lincoln County Hospital for months at a time while their little ones are cared for.

But some of this care, including tube-feeding and being given oxygen for breathing difficulties, can now be given at home.

This allows families to be reunited sooner and, maternity staff hope, the transition between hospital and home to be smoother.

The Echo revealed in March that a pounds1.7m cash injection will allow 400 county babies born between 28 and 32 weeks gestation each year to be cared for at Lincoln County Hospital.

For the past two years babies born before 32 have had to be looked after at larger neo-natal units in Sheffield, Nottingham, Leicester or Derby.

The cash will allow 52 specialist neo-natal staff including paediatric consultants, doctors, nurses and support staff to be recruited by the end of the financial year in April.

The first to be recruited is transitional home care lead Sue Jarvis with her team of home care workers to soon follow.

“At the moment a baby is kept in hospital until it is ready to leave, then it goes home and is cared for by community midwives and the family GP,” she said.

“But this new team will provide specialised nursing care to families who want to go home with their babies earlier, when it is safe to do so.

“The idea of babies going home sooner is the first step towards babies being born at less than 32 weeks being looked after in Lincoln as there subsequently be more one-to-one care available to do so.”

More on this story in Friday’s Echo.

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