We know it continues to be a particularly anxious time for families with a baby born premature or sick. Due to measures to control the spread of COVID-19, neonatal units may be restricting access which means some parents have limited time with their baby and others may be unable to visit at all. With reduced access to support networks, both on and off the unit, parents are also at greater risk of feeling isolated.
Adapting our services
Soon after the start of the pandemic, we launched a face-to-face video call support service so that our trained volunteers – who would usually support more than 900 families on neonatal units every month – can provide parents with emotional and practical support via video call. This service is available to families – both on neonatal units and at home – across the UK. We are actively working on returning some volunteers to neonatal units where units and local restrictions allow, and only on units where parents have unlimited access to their babies.
Our email support line remains open and the number of enquiries to this service have increased significantly since the start of the pandemic.
We produced COVID-19 information which is continually being updated with the latest guidance both for families currently on the unit, and for those at home who are feeling anxious about the health of their baby, especially those babies with medical conditions who may be at a higher risk of COVID-19.
We have also been posting more support content on our social media channels, so that our followers feel less isolated and more informed about how to care for their child during this challenging time.
Thanks to funding, we were able to make a new printed booklet about going home from the neonatal unit available free of charge to families. We have also sent 'emergency information' packs of our free About Neonatal Care booklets to all units in the UK.