Noshin Menzies, Senior Project Manager at the West of England AHSN reflects on prematurity interventions, ahead of World Prematurity Day.
This Sunday (17 November) is World Prematurity Day. It’s close to my heart, being a mum to a premature baby and working on PReCePT, an initiative to reduce risk of cerebral palsy in premature babies. I’ve worked on PReCePT since 2014 and seen the impact this simple intervention can have on families.
I’ll be feeling positive on this World Prematurity Day. At the West of England AHSN we are embarking on an exciting collaboration with University Hospitals Bristol and Great Western Hospitals to improve the outcomes for premature babies across the region through a new neonatal care bundle. The bundle is the first of its kind, and builds on what we have learned from PReCePT. It will support maternity and neonatal units in implementing or improving elements of care that will contribute to a reduction in brain injury and death in the smallest and earliest born babies. Magnesium sulphate (the basis of PReCePT) will be one of the interventions, but the bundle will bring together many more that collectively can make a really significant impact on brain injury and mortality rates amongst babies born prematurely.
This project will bring together neonatologists, obstetricians, midwives and neonatal nursing staff to redesign the way in which preterm babies are cared for, before and after birth. We aim to bring innovation and creativity into the design process to embed effective ways of working that we can then share nationally. Having wrapped up delivering quality improvement (QI) coaching to 13 units across the country for the PReCePT study, I am raring to go and share what I have learned with the local teams.
I’m looking forward to meeting parents across the region. We’re setting out to involve and co-produce this project with a wide range of people reflecting the diverse communities that make up our vibrant region. We know that outcomes for mothers and babies born to women of colour are poorer than women of other heritages and backgrounds. We will ensure that all women have a voice and are able to work in collaboration with us as team and I look forward to getting out and about and meeting them!
Posted on November 12, 2019 by Noshin Menzies, Senior Project Manager at the West of England AHSN
