COVID-19 and The Impact on Family Centered Care – Our Position

13 May 2020

Irish Neonatal Health Alliance and PumpPal ©:

Joint Statement and Call to Action: COVID-19 and Parental Access and Involvement on Neonatal Units – UPDATE

Today the INHA and PumpPal issued an updated joint statement on the COVID-19 pandemic.

The British Association of Perinatal Medicine recently updated their stance on the NICU access restrictions and we have referenced the statement wording below.

Parental access to Irish NICUs continues to be severely restricted and we are calling for strong leadership from the RCPI to ensure that NICU policy changes are evidence based and to reverse the access/visitation decisions taken by the NICUs.

Click here to view the full statement

 

14 April 2020

Irish Neonatal Health Alliance and PumpPal ©:

Joint Statement and Call to Action: COVID-19 and Parental Access and Involvement on Neonatal Units

Today the INHA and PumpPal have issued a joint statement which details our concerns relating to the recent changes to NICU access for families.

Click here to view the full statement

9 April 2020

Speaking Up for Our Families – Press

INHA Director Mandy Daly was interviewed by TheJournal.ie, see full article by following the link below

https://www.thejournal.ie/mothers-nicu-covid-19-restrictions-5070051-Apr2020/

Extra.ie covered the issue as following in their article https://extra.ie/2020/04/19/news/irish-news/premature-babies-irish-hospitals-pandemic

 

 

7 April 2020

Speaking Up for Our Families – Radio

The INHA Director Mandy Daly was interviewed by Niall Boylan from Classic Hits about the recent changes to parental access to NICUs.

3 April 2020

#15MinutesIsNotOk

See our social networks for the #15MinutesIsNotOk campaign

 

1 April 2020

The INHA are a proud board member of the NIDCAP Federation International. The following statement with regards to Covid 19 was issued on 31 March 2020:

“The NIDCAP Federation International (NFI) holds as a primary goal the support of parents as the optimal caregivers of their infant. Parental presence, including skin to skin holding and breastfeeding, and active collaboration with their hospitalized infant and the health care team, enhances the infant’s neurodevelopment.

Despite increasingly stringent rules for access to hospitalized newborns and infants due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NFI recognizes that the safety and health of infants, parents and the health care team may require modification of guidelines and policies. Screening for fever and other symptoms of illness now becomes more important than ever before.

The NFI recommends that parental presence, active participation and advocacy continue to be considered a unique aspect of care that shortens the duration of hospitalization and improves other outcomes. The NFI commends the valiant efforts of health care teams around the world in their support and care to infants, their families and one another during these unprecedented times. The NFI sends support, strength and hope as we navigate this challenging pandemic crisis.

Board of Directors

NIDCAP Federation International

March 31, 2020

31 March 2020

COVID-19 and Worrying Parental Access Restriction Developments in Irish NICUs

We are hearing of more and more NICUs either closing their doors to families or severely limiting parental access.
It is vital that breastfeeding and Skin To Skin care for preterm infants continue during the Covid-19 crisis (assuming that parents are healthy and adhere to the units strict hand-washing and safety procedures).
There isn’t a parent of a child in the NICU who would willingly put the life of their infant at risk. Parents have far more to lose if they don’t wash their hands properly!!!

With 25% of positive Covid tests in the HCP community why not consider using parents as primary caregivers for their infant and limit HCP/Infant contact?

When considering changing unit policies please review international publications, health society recommendations and published data.