New App helps connect parents with their baby in neonatal care
NHS neonatal units across the UK are introducing a secure video-messaging app for parents of children being cared for by specialist neonatal units.
The app was the idea of the parents of a child who was in specialist neonatal care at the Royal Hospital for Children, Glasgow. They asked if it would be possible to receive video updates at times they were unable to be cot-side. Their promptings were instrumental in a subsequent collaboration between the NHS and App specialist, vCreate.
“We worked with the clinical team at the Royal Hospital for Children to develop a solution to help parents of premature babies at a difficult time in their lives,” commented Ben Moore, founder of vCreate. “We also decided that an alternative approach to funding was necessary in order to remove cost as a barrier to entry for hospitals that wanted to deliver the best in digital services. Making vCreate ‘free at the point of delivery’ to both patients and NHS Neonatal Units became the focus of the project,” Moore added.
The app innovates in its approach to funding. Its provision in hospitals is made possible by a funding method which relies on sponsorship, charity, public-private partnerships and “branding opportunities”; all of which comes at no cost to the NHS.
The app could go some way towards meeting a gap in NHS service provision. Even the parents of healthy children know what it is to experience postnatal anxiety, but in cases where newborns require specialist neonatal care, there is added – and justifiable – scope for anxiety. A recent study for Mental Health Awareness Week found that use of the app in NHS Neonatal Units was effective in reducing anxiety levels for new parents, particularly during the night; a time when parents may need to go home.
The survey found that 100% of parents surveyed believed that vCreate videos improved or aided their mental wellbeing while their babies were in specialist neonatal care. Furthermore, 100% reported that the app helped reduce separation anxiety.
Aberdeen Neonatal Unit recently became the second hospital in Scotland to start using the technology. However, the hospital is not only using it to allow parents to check-in with their children, but it is also being used to record footage of milestones and other special moments, which is then sent to parents’ smartphones.
“We get parents from all over the north-east, Orkney and Shetland who can’t make it to the unit so having this service for them will be brilliant. The feedback we have had so far has been so positive,” commented a hospital spokesperson.
The technology is another example of just how far we have come as a culture when it comes to pregnancy, childbirth and the postnatal period. Just a few decades ago it was common for parents of premature and unwell newborns to be sent home with little or no contact with their children. Fortunately, although there is still room for improvement, hospitals have become increasingly good at listening to and taking on board the needs and concerns of parents.
