Questionnaire

[prem design]

Hello,

I am a fourth year creative industries student. In my final year I have chosen to target medical equipment, especially equipment used in medical procedures performed on children. I feel that there is much that can be done in the redesign of equipment, to reduce, if not eliminate its alien and intimidating nature.

My research thus far has compelled me to concentrate on the relationship between premature babies and their mothers to see if redesign within neonatal units could relive the emotional burden parents of premature babies experience.

If you are the parent of a premature baby or have spent time in a neonatal unit as family of a premature baby I would very much appreciate your response.

On Friday I was lucky enough to get a tour of the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh. They only have a small neonatal unit but I was able to experience firsthand some of the issues raised in the 'Neonatal unit information; can you help?' thread . I was genuinely shocked by how unfit for purpose some of the spaces where.

My research thus far has led me to the conclusion that remodelling could solve the majority of these issues. There are many publications available on how to design neonatal units. Given adequate funding there is no reason why facilities should have issues regarding privacy, access, parent facilities including furniture, lighting and noise with the exception of alarms. Therefore my design will improve conditions in existing neonatal units where remodelling to eliminate these issues is not feasible.

To do this I aim to modify the incubator itself. For example incubators can be made sound proof so no matter how many visitors there are you know your baby won't be disturbed. I have also read up on research carried out to determine how the environment within the incubator effects babies health. This has led me to discover kangaroo care. I am considering the possibilities of incorporation the principles of Kangaroo care into a portable or 'cuddable' incubator.

Below is a questionnaire. Again your answers would be invaluable to the success of the design.

Thank you for any help.

Charlotte Cripps


Was it a shock to you that your baby was born prematurely? If not how prepared were you?

After you gave birth how long was it before you got to hold your baby? Why did you have to wait this long?

As a parent what where you allowed/ asked to do in caring for your baby?
How long was it before you were allowed to take your babies out of their incubator?

On a scale from 1 to 5 (5 being the most difficult) how difficult did you find it to take your baby in and out of their incubator? What made it this difficult?

Did you and your other half practice kangaroo care? If so was this under the direction of a health professional?

Did you feel that kangaroo care was beneficial to you and your baby? Why or why not?

Was it comfortable to hold your baby in the kangaroo care position? Why or Why not?

Foogirl mentioned the experience of having a preemie was hard to deal with in the middle of the night. What was the hardest part about having a premature baby? Did you do anything specifically to help you deal with the situation?

 

[bumpsmum]

glad your visit went well Charlotte and you got to see first hand some of our concerns. WHO NEW INCUBATORS COULD BE SOUND-PROOFED EH?? Will be happy to complete your questionnaire once little man is settled down for the night

Gillian x

 

[embojet]

Was it a shock to you that your baby was born prematurely? If not how prepared were you?
I knew for about a week before she was born that she was coming early, and for me, I had enough time to prepare mentally.
After you gave birth how long was it before you got to hold your baby? 36 hoursWhy did you have to wait this long? very severs preeclampsia. Not sure of the exact reason as was too out of it to ask docs.

As a parent what where you allowed/ asked to do in caring for your baby? nappy changes, nasal gastric tube feeds, giving some meds, changing oxygen equipment (Molly came home on oxygen so needed to get used to it), bathing Molly, expressing.
How long was it before you were allowed to take your babies out of their incubator?
1 week

On a scale from 1 to 5 (5 being the most difficult) how difficult did you find it to take your baby in and out of their incubator? 3What made it this difficult? Oxygen tubes and lack of space between incubators.

Did you and your other half practice kangaroo care? Yes. If so was this under the direction of a health professional? Was shown how to do so by a nurse.

Did you feel that kangaroo care was beneficial to you and your baby? Yes. Why or why not? Helped us to bond quickly.

Was it comfortable to hold your baby in the kangaroo care position? Yes. Why or Why not?

Foogirl mentioned the experience of having a preemie was hard to deal with in the middle of the night. What was the hardest part about having a premature baby? I also found night times hard. i would lay awake wondering how she was. Did you do anything specifically to help you deal with the situation? The SCBU let parents call any time just to check their baby is ok nd they would give us little updates. I would often ring in the middle of the night and speak to the nurse caring for her that night.

 

[bumpsmum]

Was it a shock to you that your baby was born prematurely? If not how prepared were you?

I began to feel ill at 28 weeks and was being closely monitored from 30 weeks with suspected pre-eclampsia although was not until day before my son's birth did I think it would be so soon. (born at 33+4) our babies room was not ready, we never had any early baby clothes but bags were packed etc and I was mentally prepared 'just in case' my husband however was in denial and did not think things were so serious.

After you gave birth how long was it before you got to hold your baby? Why did you have to wait this long?

3-4 days Matthew went straight to intensive care in an incubator and needed assistance breathing in the first 24 hours. I was allowed to hold Matthew briefly after a few days to see if he could latch breastfeeding.
As a parent what where you allowed/ asked to do in caring for your baby?

After a few days nursing staff showed us how to do nappy changes and oral care and when we felt comfortable they left us to do it during our visits. Matthew had an eye infection so needed regular eye baths which we also did. We gave him his vitamins and feeds via tube feeding and then bottlw feeding when he was strong enough.

How long was it before you were allowed to take your babies out of their incubator?

Lift him on our own in/out? About a week but this was more about confidence for us handeling Matthew we always let nurses guide us when we were 'allowed' to do things

On a scale from 1 to 5 (5 being the most difficult) how difficult did you find it to take your baby in and out of their incubator? What made it this difficult?

3-confidence handeling a small baby, Matthew was 3lb 11oz at birth which dropped to 3lb 6oz and very fragile. The wires for the monitors were fiddly and you had to be quick getting him in/out as as soon as the temp dropped the alarm would sound.

Did you and your other half practice kangaroo care? If so was this under the direction of a health professional?

Sadly we were not offered this, I only know about it from this website. Nursing staff did encourge skin to skin for breastfeeding reasons but my husband was not offered this. I feel the dads are sometimes left out of the bonding process as so much emphasis is placed on the mum which is not fair.

Did you feel that kangaroo care was beneficial to you and your baby? Why or why not?

Had we the opportunity I think it would have been very beneficial at helping maintain temp which was his main obstacle and to sleep better as he was very restless and fidgeting (main reason he lost so much weight!)

Was it comfortable to hold your baby in the kangaroo care position? Why or Why not?

Being home we put him in this position alot, he just seemed to 'fit' natuarally against the body and was so content.

Foogirl mentioned the experience of having a preemie was hard to deal with in the middle of the night. What was the hardest part about having a premature baby?

Going home that first night without him, as I was so ill I spent 9 days in hospital (2 in intensive care) so had been able to go see him whenever I wanted, my husband was used to leaving him there but I was heartbroken.

Did you do anything specifically to help you deal with the situation?
Nothing I could do, nurses senses I was upset and offered lots of reassurance and let us know we could call, come up anytime.

Good luck with your project.

Gillian and Matthew x x

 

[Bec L]

Was it a shock to you that your baby was born prematurely? If not how prepared were you?
Yes it was! I had had a midwfire appointment 3 days before and there weree no signs that Poppy would arrive so soon after.

After you gave birth how long was it before you got to hold your baby? Why did you have to wait this long?
I was able to hold her straight away but then she was taken to an incubator in the delivery room to have some oxygen. We could then hold her for a few precious minutes before she went into SCBU

As a parent what where you allowed/ asked to do in caring for your baby?
How long was it before you were allowed to take your babies out of their incubator?
We were allowed to do Poppy's 'cares' - nappy changes, washing, changing throughout the day but I usually had to ask permission to be allowed to take her out of her incubator. Different members of staff had different opinions on how often we could do this and that made things difficult. One nurse had me in tears when I asked if I could take Poppy out and she told me I wasn't helping her by getting her out too much and then she would loose weight and burn up more calories if i kept taking her out.

On a scale from 1 to 5 (5 being the most difficult) how difficult did you find it to take your baby in and out of their incubator? What made it this difficult?
I'd say 2. It was ok once all the wires had been unplugged where necessary.

Did you and your other half practice kangaroo care? If so was this under the direction of a health professional?
I tried to although no one really explained what it was. Whenever Poppy was out I cuddled her to my chest and let her breastfeed from me if she wanted to. One of the nurses told me it was very beneficial.

Did you feel that kangaroo care was beneficial to you and your baby? Why or why not?
Well I certainly enjoyed having her so close to me and I think Poppy enjoyed the cuddles

Was it comfortable to hold your baby in the kangaroo care position? Why or Why not?

Yes I found it comfortable.

Foogirl mentioned the experience of having a preemie was hard to deal with in the middle of the night. What was the hardest part about having a premature baby? Did you do anything specifically to help you deal with the situation?

The hardest part was having to leave her behind at the hospital while we went home at night. It was heartbreaking and i felt guilty every single night. I didn't have to worry about her health as such as she fortunately had no medical complications but if I could have stayed with her every night it would have been much easier.

 

[Mumof42009]

Was it a shock to you that your baby was born prematurely? If not how prepared were you? I knew my baby was going to be early as i had a planned c-section as i had the start of a placenta abruption which i had with my other 3 children which resulted in them being born premature as well. I was prepared as ive had 3 other prems but also scared.

After you gave birth how long was it before you got to hold your baby? Why did you have to wait this long? Its was 5 days before i held him as he was on cpap and quite ill.

As a parent what where you allowed/ asked to do in caring for your baby?
How long was it before you were allowed to take your babies out of their incubator? I was allowed to do his cares after a few days at 1st they told me not to touch him as he was distressed.

On a scale from 1 to 5 (5 being the most difficult) how difficult did you find it to take your baby in and out of their incubator? What made it this difficult?
2 i had the experience of nicu before so knew what i was doing but other 1st time parents on the unit found it hard as they is so many wires etc.

Did you and your other half practice kangaroo care? If so was this under the direction of a health professional? I did kangeroo care which i'd done with my other children.

Did you feel that kangaroo care was beneficial to you and your baby? Why or why not? I really enjoyed doing it as it made me feel close and like i was doing something for him.

Was it comfortable to hold your baby in the kangaroo care position? Why or Why not? Yes it helped me feel close to him in that position

Foogirl mentioned the experience of having a preemie was hard to deal with in the middle of the night. What was the hardest part about having a premature baby? Did you do anything specifically to help you deal with the situation? My hardest was leaving the hospital everynight knowing it was a 30min journey to get there if anything happened, i jumped everytime the phone rang incase something bad had happened. I kept his pic by my bed and used to fall asleep looking at him.

 

[Marleysgirl]

Not sure about sound-proofed incubators, if a baby is on "minimal handling" then the inci door would have to be left open for baby to hear parents' voices, which could be the only contact in fragile cases. Noise levels certainly didn't seem to bother Andrew, and I saw it as a good chance for him to learn to sleep while other things go on around him (practice for home!).

 

[bumpsmum]

I agree with Marleysgirl - if totally soundproofed would they hear baby cry??? x