Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust opened a new neonatal transitional care ward on Friday, for babies who require some additional care in the first few days of their lives.
Located on Hazel ward, the new six-bedded service will be staffed by one dedicated midwife, a maternity support worker and the Special Care Baby Unit outreach nurse.
The neonatal transitional care ward will provide additional support for babies who require intravenous antibiotics, phototherapy and blood sugar monitoring.
It will also provide care for babies that are born a little early, under 37 weeks, and babies that have a low birth weight.
Rhian Boase, Senior Midwife on Hazel, said: “Often, it is not just these babies who need more care, but their mothers often need extra support also.
“The aim of the neonatal transitional care ward will be to keep mothers and babies together, despite the additional medical interventions that the babies will be receiving.
“We know that early bonding between parents and their babies is so important, and we always try to encourage this where possible.
“It is for this reason that we are so excited to open the new neonatal transitional care ward, as it is designed in such a way to keep babies close to mum, with care brought right to the bedside.”
Charlotte Forsyth, Medical Director, cut the ribbon to open the ward.
“It is so good to see our teams working multi-disciplinarily across services.
“Our maternity teams work closely with the Special Care Baby Unit to ensure care like this can be provided in the best way possible, with the key aim of keeping mothers and babies together.
“It’s really good to see such good staff morale and to hear how our staff on Hazel enjoy their working environment.
“As the first hospital in the region to have created a designated neonatal transitional care ward, I really am so proud to have been asked to open the ward.”
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