The Special Care Baby Unit
If you know your baby is going to be born early, you might already have
made at least one visit to the SCBU but if, like many parents, your first
visit is after you've given birth then it can seem like you've walked
onto the set of a sci-fi film. Fortunately, the more familiar you become
with SCBU - the staff, equipment and environment - the more at ease you'll
begin to feel.
The environment
Because the care of premature babies is so advanced, it's not surprising
that the special care unit is also very high tech. All your senses are
accosted at once.
- Smell - hygiene and sterility are particularly important in SCBU so
it often smells strongly of 'hospitals'.
- Temperature - all babies lose heat quickly but even more so with premature
babies who cannot regulate their temperature, so you will notice that
the SCBU is very warm.
- Lights - the lighting in SCBU can be very harsh, especially around
the more critical areas. As well as this, monitors and alarms are often
flashing.
- Sounds - ventilators, monitors, drips and other machinery all make
different sounds, some of which may be familiar but others can be frightening,
especially when alarms are beeping. Despite this, SCBUs can be quite
quiet.
The staff
The special care unit tends to have more staff than you see in other
hospital wards, due to the highly specialised care needed by premature
babies.
Doctors - usually led by a paediatric consultant, you will also
see a registrar and senior house officer (SHO).
Nurses - the nursing staff are also of different grades, trained
in neonatal care. Many are also midwives or paediatric nurses.
Auxillary staff - some units also have nurses who, whilst not qualified
nurses, are trained to work in special care units.
Domicillary staff - cleaners, technicians and housekeepers are
also present in SCBU.
There are three levels of care in the neonatal unit and, depending on
the level of care your baby needs, will determine the level of nursing
he receives.
- Level 1 (special care) requires a maximum nursing ratio of one nurse
to look after four babies.
- Level 2 (high dependency) requires a maximum nursing ratio of one
nurse to look after two babies.
- Level 3 (intensive care) requires one nurse for one baby.
The equipment
By far the most daunting thing about special care units is the amount
of space-age equipment wherever you look.The monitoring equipment which
is attached to your baby means the staff can keep a close watch on his
heart rate, rate and pattern of breathing, and glucose levels.
Once you understand how this equipment is helping your baby, it quickly
becomes less intimidating.
- Incubator - thanks to television, many people are familiar
with this plastic box-like cot. The incubator can help regulate your
baby's temperature, and the air humidity and oxygen levels can be regulated
within the incubator.
- Ventilator - these provide assistance for your baby's breathing.
There are two types of ventilator, one which breathes for your baby,
and the other which responds to your baby's breathing and will breathe
for him if he misses a breath or doesn't breath deeply enough. You can
hear a click as the ventilator works as well as whooshing sounds as
the mechanisms work.
- Monitors- there are several different types of monitoring equipment
and your baby may have one, some or all of them. Sensors can be stuck
to your baby's abdomen and/or chest to detect heart rate and breathing
rate. He may have a sensor strapped to his foot to monitor the amount
of oxygen in his blood. His blood pressure may be monitored with a tiny
cuff around his arm. Screens are often by each incubator showing all
these readings.
- Drips and tubes - your baby may need a drip to prevent him
from becoming dehydrated. He may also have a tube passed into his nose
to feed him through. If your baby doesn't need to be ventilated he may
have a thin tube under his nostrils to provide him with extra oxygen.
He may also have a thin tube in one of his veins where drugs can be
given to him.
It is unlikely whether anybody will be able to tell you how long your
baby will be in the unit: it could be days, weeks or even months. Your
baby may need special surgery or treatment for specific medical conditions,
and at the beginning you might find that he lurches from crisis to crisis.
At first you may feel that you and he are living from minute to minute
and hour to hour. However, once your baby is out of immediate danger and
begins to make progress, there will probably be a underlying current of
cautious optimism.
The Bliss parent InformationGuide can give you more detailed information
on the different types of equipment you might encounter in the neonatal
unit and why they are used. Visit www.bliss.org.uk
Visit babyworld's Prem
Babies discussion forum – run by a mum with first-hand experience
of this worrying time.
<<Back to Born too soon index page
|
