Giving hugs to premature babies
Published: September 24, 2005
One in ten babies born in Britain are premature - many are so tiny that it can be some time before their parent are able to take them out of their incubators and cuddle them.
A new design by an art graduate hopes to change this by creating the ‘humanising incubator’.
Instead of parents only being able to get access to their newborn just through the portholes of an incubator, Sally Halls’ design would allow parents to pick up their baby and get important bonding sessions with it in the early stages.
“It brings them out of the incubator and back into the parent’s arms, whilst still maintaining all medical need,” said Sally.
Design
Neonatal experts stress the design is still in the very early stages, but say they are interested in principle.
Sally, who won an award with her design from the Royal College of Arts, said the new incubator aimed to reduce the isolation of premature babies.
“I wanted to do something like this after seeing images in the media of sick babies with no human contact.
“I wanted to see if there was anything that could be done to give them contact in a more human way.
“As a new parent the first thing you want to do is to really hold your child, but even if you can, you worry that you are interfering with their recovery.”
She stressed that her product was not designed to replace incubators in hospitals, but to enhance them and to allow the baby to be handled earlier.
In Sally’s new incubator, the baby would sit on a heated mattress that would then fold around it creating a closed, sealed environment when held by the parent.
The mattress inside would also be specially designed to prevent bed sores and make it more comfortable for the baby who spends most of its time in there.
There would also be an inflatable ring around the baby, allowing them to feel more secure and to mimic the conditions in the womb and a humidifier would pump warm air around inside.
Safety
Sally said everything possible would be done to increase access to the baby, while still maintaining their safety.
“In order to enable full interaction with the mother, the baby’s head has been left uncovered. As the mother was the host parent for the child, any antibodies will be shared by the mother and child. This means that the baby will have a natural defence to anything the mother may carry.
“The baby can see, hear and smell the mother, and be reassured through all its sense, ” she said.
Sally said she had received tremendous support for her design from medical staff and parents and said she was hoping to get incubator manufacturers interested in taking on her design for production.
Dr Jane Hawdon, consultant neonatologist at University College London Hospital, said she had seen the prototype and said that while it was still in the early stages that it had potential.
“I thought it was excellent. She took the principles from her visit to our neonatal unit and she applied them well. I think in principal it would be very welcome.”
She said neonatal wards, like her own, always encouraged parents to have as much contact as possible with their babies as this had been show to improve recovery.
“Almost all neonatal units try to do all they can to bring babies out for cuddles and this is a very good way of doing this.
“There is a lot of work showing how the babies are handled and cared for enhances their outcome.”
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