Families with premature and sick babies in Wales will receive better support through a new programme to improve neonatal care standards across the country.
Baby charity Bliss has been awarded almost £100,000 funding by the Welsh Government to help support families, improve staff training and undertake research to reduce health inequalities.
Around 2,800 premature and sick babies born every year in Wales will benefit from improved care standards.
As part of the programme, all neonatal units across Wales will work towards achieving Bronze level accreditation under the Bliss Baby Charter standards. The standards focus on improving outcomes for babies by ensuring all parents can play a meaningful role as partners in their neonatal care.
The Quality Statement for Maternity and Neonatal Services recommends that health boards follow these standards.
Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing Sarah Murphy will visit the University Hospital Wales’ neonatal unit today (Monday).
She said: “It’s really important for parents of sick and premature babies to be fully involved in their children’s care and have the option of staying as close to their babies as possible.
“Bliss does fantastic work and I’m pleased to fund this programme to improve standards of care in neonatal intensive care units across the country.”
Caroline Lee-Davey, Bliss’ chief executive said:
“We are delighted to receive this important funding from the Welsh Government which will enable us to establish a new dedicated programme of support to improve outcomes for the most vulnerable babies in Wales and their families.
“We look forward to collaborating with the Welsh Government and with our neonatal health professional colleagues and community partners in Wales on what we hope will be a programme that delivers real change for babies born premature or sick.”
Under the programme, Bliss will develop bilingual support materials and increase access to Bliss’ comprehensive suite of information and support for Welsh families. The charity will focus particularly on reaching parents from minority ethnic communities and socio-economically deprived areas who often face additional barriers to accessing quality care.
Dr Ian Morris, clinical director of neonatal services at Cardiff and Vale University Health Board said:
“We are proud to support the launch of Bliss’ programme of work in Wales. Our neonatal teams work tirelessly alongside families to deliver the very best care for premature and sick babies and working with Bliss will help us place families firmly at the heart of that journey.
“By working in partnership with Bliss, Welsh Government, and colleagues across Wales, we can ensure family-centred care is embedded consistently in every neonatal unit.”
