Prem2Pram Under New Ownership

My name is Rachel and I have a four year old son. My son was born prematurely and was diagnosed at two days old with a congenital heart defect, he had a very rocky neonatal period and we spent many weeks between the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and a cardiac paediatric intensive care unit (PICU)  we spent his first Christmas on the NICU before finally bring him home.  He is my only child and the light of my life he amazes me every day.

My experience on the NICU inspired me to create Starting life in NICU which is a baby journal designed specifically for premature and sick babies and in 2010 I launched tinylittlebaby

Its through tinylittlebaby that I met a wonderful lady who’s help and advise was invaluable through those early days, that lady was Sue the founder and previous owner of Prem2Pram.  I am honoured to take over Prem2Pram and will continue to run the business with the passion that we both share.

A medical engineers view on suitable premature baby clothes

As an adult patient we rarely consider the clothes that we wear whilst we are in hospital. Even when the hospital gives you a loose fitting gown to wear for an operation or whilst they are placing monitoring equipment on to you as the patient do we really give much thought to the reasons behind their requests.

For premature and poorly babies in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit’s (NICU) and Special Care Baby Unit’s (SCBU) we show extra concern for the well being of the child and yet as concerned adults we sometimes miss the opportunity to make sure that the clothing they wear is really the best suited to the environment in which the baby is being cared for.

The majority of premature baby clothes do not allow for the easy access required for staff and for the medical devices that constantly monitor a poorly babies condition. As a medical engineer these devices are then on occasion reported faulty and then must be repaired and fully tested by the Electro-Biomedical Engineering Department (EBME) or in some instances by external companies contracted to look after the devices. This can cause delays if there are no spare units available or that the staff are unable to locate spare monitor and sensor leads for the equipment.

How can the monitor and sensor leads become damaged?

The leads must be deformed through a tight radius and pushed or pulled in to position on clothes that are not specifically designed to allow easy access. Over time the constant flexing and re-flexing of the leads causes internal damage. The equipment may as a result start to give inaccurate readings, of which the staff are unaware. This causes possible concern when there is no real need, or of NOT raising an alarm when one is perhaps required. If the device leads break completely internally then a fault is more apparent, however, until the staff are able to fit new monitoring leads to the baby and test equipment there is no way of knowing if the error is the leads or with the device it self. This results in more disturbance of the poorly baby, more concern and worry for the parents and more concern and stress for the medical staff involved. To minimise the possibility of such issues arising it would be ‘best practice’ to have the premature or poorly baby wearing clothes that eliminate or greatly reduce such occurrences.

Well designed premature baby clothes like those offered by Prem2Pram are designed and manufactured after consulting with the NICU and SCBU staff of local hospitals as well as discussions with a range of medical engineers some of whom have nearly 30 years experience in the EBME field. The ideas and suggestions from all the staff involved across different aspects of the babies care have been considered and implemented to offer a range of premature baby clothes that are comfortable, stylish and as medical environment friendly as possible.

As a grandparent of a premature baby and as a medical engineer with family and friends with over half a century of EBME experience I can wholeheartedly suggest to all parents of premature and poorly babies to think carefully about the clothes that they use whilst in hospital and recommend the parents to consider the range of premature, NICU and SCBU clothes offered by suppliers such as Prem2Pram. A little extra care taken in advance can save so much stress and anxiety for everyone involved, from baby to hospital staff, from parents to grandparents and even family friends.

 

Premature Baby Health Issues

Because a premature baby is early he/she is more prone to health problems.  These tiny premature babies often have underdeveloped lungs as well as other issues and as a result have higher rates of disabilities such as cerebral palsy.

Because of the various health concerns a premature baby is given medical assistance immediately after delivery. Depending on how prematurely a baby arrives he/she is likely to be transferred to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), for assessment to determine his/her medical needs.

Below are some of the more common conditions that occur in premature babies:

Respiratory Distress Syndrome
a breathing disorder related to the baby’s immature lungs.  Because a premature baby’s lungs frequently lack surfactant, a liquid substance that allows the lungs to remain expanded.  Artificial surfactants are often used to treat these tiny babies in conjunction with a ventilator to improve baby’s breathing and to help maintain sufficient oxygen levels in the blood.

Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia
is the medical term used to describe babies who require oxygen over a longer period of time.  The severity of this condition varies and as baby’s lungs mature they tend to outgrow the condition.

Apnoea
is the medical term given when the regular breathing rhythm is interrupted for more than fifteen seconds.  The condition is often is associated with a reduced heart rate, known medically as bradycardia. A pulse oximeter is used to measure oxygen saturation a drop in oxygen is known as de-saturation. The majority of babies outgrow the condition by the time they go home.

Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP)
previously known as retrolental fibroplasia (RLF), is an eye disease that affects premature babies in which the retina is not fully developed. The majority of cases resolve without the need for treatment, although serious cases may require surgery. Both oxygen toxicity and relative hypoxia can contribute to the development of ROP.

Jaundice
is the result of a build in the baby’s blood of a chemical called Bilirubin. As a result of this build up the baby’s skin takes on a yellow tinge. Treating the condition involves placing the undressed baby under special lights whilst covering baby’s eyes to protect them from damage.