While Your Baby is in the Hospital
The While Your Baby is in the Hospital section explains the special needs and some of the treatments premature infants may be prescribed, here in Ireland. This section also has information to help you understand and deal with your feelings.
Some premature babies require intensive care and monitoring after their birth and may be admitted to the hospital's special care baby unit (SCBU), also called the neonatal unit for a period of time.
Before entering the special care baby unit, always remember to wash your hands carefully and completely.
On your first visit, you might be alarmed to see machines, tubes and wires near your baby. Don't be shy to ask the nurse to explain the purpose of each one.
Premature babies seem more fragile than other infants because of their small size, so you might worry about touching your baby right away, but you really should touch and stroke your baby as soon as you can, to establish a close connection from the earliest time, and to deepen the bond between you. Please talk to the neonatal nurses regarding touching your baby as they will advise you best to do this.
The nurses will show you how to hold your baby, but if that concerns you at all, don't be afraid to tell the nurses, so that they can reassure you that there is nothing to worry about.
Many Special Care Units in Ireland encourage parents to use Kangaroo Care, a way of holding your infant to provide skin-to-skin contact. Kangaroo Care gently comforts and stimulates the infant, and may be helpful for the baby's development. Many parents find that using Kangaroo Care helps them feel closer to their baby.
In some cases, you may be able to touch and play with your baby less than you would like to, but you will be able to feed, clean, and help provide care as your baby develops.
Some time after the birth, you will be able to leave the hospital but your baby may have to stay.
To get ready for looking after your baby at home, you may be allowed to stay overnight in the hospital. Neonatal units are open to parents at all times, and grandparents are usually also welcome, but you should ask people to stay away if they have an illness or infection as it could to spread others. Because of high rates of viral infection in children such as chicken pox, many units do not allow children to visit neonatal units.
If you have other children at home, they will want to know how you and the baby are doing. A good way to reassure them is to take pictures or make a video of your newborn and bring them home for the children to see. You can also take photos of your other children and attach them outside the baby's cot for the older children to see if they visit the baby. Your children may also like to draw a picture of the family that can be placed outside the baby's cot. This will help them understand that they really have a new baby brother or sister.
Your baby may be moved to a hospital closer to your home as he or she improves. It is normal to have some worries and concerns at this time about your baby changing hospitals, but you should know that the staff at the new hospital will be ready to give your baby all of the care he or she needs. This move should also reduce the stress of travelling to visit your baby at a distant hospital.
