Skin-to-skin in the first few days on the unit
Sometimes called kangaroo care, this means placing your baby undressed onto your bare skin on your chest, so that your skin touches.
This is shown to help you to connect with your baby, as well as calming your baby if they are feeling pain or stress. Mums, dads, brothers, sisters and other family members can do skin-to-skin.
Staff will let you know if your baby is ready to have skin-to-skin with you – sometimes you might need to wait until they are more stable.
The nurses will help you to get your baby onto your chest. This might take a little time if your baby is attached to many wires or a ventilator. They will show you how to support your baby and make the most of this time together.
For kangaroo care to really benefit your baby you need to do this for at least one hour, if possible. Make sure you are really comfortable, and have everything you need before you start.
Feeding your baby on the neonatal unit
Babies on the neonatal unit can have breastmilk, donor breastmilk, or formula milk. Your baby may not be able to be breastfed straightaway, but can have expressed breast milk through a tube.
If mum is unable to express breastmilk or you as parents choose not to, your baby can also have formula. This can also be fed by a tube (called enteral nutrition, or EN) if your baby is not ready to take milk by themselves.
Sometimes a baby’s stomach might not be mature enough to have any kind of milk, and so they are given their nutrition through a vein, called parenteral nutrition, or PN.
Parenteral nutrition is a special liquid which has the right balance of nutrients to help the growth of babies who aren’t able to have milk yet. This is likely to be the case for babies born very early. This type of feed can also be given through a vein in their umbilical cord.
Your baby might also be given formula if mum is on certain medication which might affect your baby.
Sometimes a fortifier is given to some babies to make sure they receive all the nutrients they need on top of the breastmilk. This is is added straight into the milk.
Whether you are tube feeding, breastfeeding or bottle feeding your baby, you can get involved. Many parents tell us that having skin-to-skin whilst feeding, expressing breastmilk or giving their baby their first bottle feed gives them lasting memories that they treasure.
Read more about research Bliss funded into PN feeding.
Washing and changing your baby
The nurses and neonatal team can support you to wash your baby and change their nappy. This can feel hard when they are connected to wires and monitors.
The nurses will show you the best way to do this to make sure your baby feels comfortable.
Doing these things, sometimes called your baby’s cares, helps parents play more of a hands-on role in their baby’s day-to-day needs. This can help parents feel connected with their baby.
If your baby was born prematurely, regular nappies might be too big.
Ask your unit if they have some Pampers Preemie Protection nappies – they have three sizes, specially made for the smallest babies. These are available for units to order for free. Visit our page on Pampers for more information.
Making decisions and getting consent for your baby’s care
Your baby is at the heart of your family, and so the neonatal team must include you when talking about your baby and support you when decisions need to be made .
Your unit should encourage you to be there and talk with the doctors during their rounds. Ask if you can read your baby’s medical notes too.
The health professionals need to get written consent from you for operations and some other procedures. This means getting your agreement that the operation or procedure can happen to your baby.
If you are not on the unit, for example in the middle of the night, and your baby is unwell, urgent decisions might be made quickly to make sure your baby gets the best care. This may also happen if there is an unexpected change in your baby’s condition. The team should talk to you about these decisions as soon as possible.
