Neonatal Care: New Trends to Improve the Quality of Life of Newborns
GE Healthcare and HealthSolutions team with GE Healthcare Global Portfolio Manager Kiran Kumar Yamalakonda, GE Healthcare Segment Leader for Maternal Infant Care Noel Lim and GE Healthcare ASEAN Marketing Director Sachin Vij
When a baby is born, a room suddenly lights up with joy and love as a new birth represents new beginnings not only to the new parents, but to everyone else. The nine months of anticipation and anxiety finally ends, and more experiences await. The joy of first being able to meet the baby is one thing but the medical aspect is the primary concern in the initial days of the child.
The recently held event by healthcare partners, GE Healthcare (GEHC) and HealthSolutions regarding maternal infant care paved the way in updating information to more than 100 Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) nurses and Neonatologist all over Metro Manila. The event at the Marco Polo Hotel in Ortigas promoted the best ways in ensuring the survival of newborn and affordable healthcare solutions.
Clinicians primary aim is to ensure the survival of newborns. Neonatology experts encouraged clinicians and nurses who attended the lecture sessions to go beyond just survival and aim for the improvement of each newborn’s quality of life.
Studies have shown that the first minute of a baby’s life is crucial. Physicians must ensure that “the lungs must breathe air, the cardiac and pulmonary circulation slowly shift from normal circulation from fetal circulation changes, the digestive system must begin to process food and excrete waste,” a study by Roland Rodriguez suggest.
Furthermore, “the kidneys must begin working to balance fluids and chemicals in the body and excrete waste and the liver and immunologic systems must begin functioning independently.” All these were confirmed by Dr. Catherine Chua (Neonatologist, SLMC-QC and TMC) who spoke at the recent GEHC and HealthSolutions event tackling the science of developmental care in newborns.
After assuring all those crucial aspects of the newborn, Dr. Chua urged that clinicians should be able to create an environment for the baby to encourage full development. She suggested that the reduction of stressful situations or environment to newborns should be achieved so that each of the child’s senses will fully develop. This is done by ensuring that the environment like in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) will as much as possible be as soothing and healthy for the baby.
Dr. Chua gave practical tips in ensuring a healthy environment for newborns especially those with severe medical conditions. This include dimming the lights in the NICU, reducing loud noises and turning off alarms when necessary. These are essential to the developmental growth of the newborn especially in developing its senses.
Meanwhile, Dr. Resti Bautista (Assoc. Professor and Chief of Newborn Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, UP-PGH), also a speaker at the event talked about updates and trends in the neonatal resuscitation program. He emphasized that in order for babies to start breathing, clinicians must give the right amount of oxygen, if not natural air, when necessary after delivery.
Further, Dr. Bautista stressed on the Neonatal Resuscitation 2015 updates. He also urged clinicians saying, “you must get that baby to breathe,” he said as the main goal for newborns in their first minute of life. He also reminded clinicians and nurses to be mindful of the time spent intubating infants (when the need arises), because prolonged intubation, causes more harm than good.
One way to ensure that newborn babies are well taken care of is through the use of infant warmers. Dr. Bautista reported that PhilHealth has already approved the use of warmers in public Philippine hospitals. Now through the government’s support, public hospitals may get the same machines like warmers and resuscitation devices enjoyed in private hospitals.
As these new medical updates come, technological advances go along with it. GE Healthcare’s latest Lullaby Technology series assured that they take part in new innovations as they launched the Lullaby Resus Plus and Resus Prime and the Lullaby Warmer Prime hopes to reduce infant mortality and assures that they take part in caring for our babies in the most crucial times of their development.
The innovative products as explained by ASEAN GE Healthcare’s product manager Noel Lim are all listed at the World Health Organization’s Compendium of Innovative Technologies for low resource setting. “The products are affordable but we still focus on quality in order to save babies,” Lim said.
The products were designed and created in a way that integrates multiple uses in one device. The Lullaby Resus Plus enables end users to set the Positive End-Expiratory Pressure (PEEP or CPAP Pressure on the resuscitation device, as well as, and Positive Inspiratory Pressure (PIP) well. This device, which is used in lieu of the traditional Bag-Valve-Mask (commonly known as, Ambubagging in the country) can also function as CPAP device.
The Lullaby Resus Prime on the other hand is a device that combines an oxygen outlet for bag-valve-mask ventilation and a suction device. This can also be used during resuscitation. The Warmer Prime is also an efficient warmer complete with high-quality materials re-usable probe made with Kevlar technology, the same material used in bullet-proof vests.
Babies are precious beings and they deserve no less than the best we can offer. For further inquiries, the following contact details are active:
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