Special Care Baby Unit
Every parent hopes that their baby will be born healthy but for some families it will be necessary for their newborn to be admitted to the Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU) for stabilisation and care.
There are many different reasons why a baby might need to be admitted to the Special Care Baby Unit. Your baby may have been born earlier than expected, need help with their breathing, feeding, temperature control or weight gain and may need close observation and monitoring.
Some parents may be aware that their baby will require admission to the unit before their baby is born but for many families, their baby’s admission to SCBU is unexpected and can be very upsetting. Staff will explain the reason your baby has been admitted and will answer any questions you may have and ensure you are kept updated on your baby's progress.
The unit is close to Labour Ward and Theatres to make transfer of babies requiring extra care, quick and easy. We have 10 cots including one for babies requiring intensive care, and one for babies needing high dependency care.
Our unit is staffed by doctors and nurses with specialist skills and experience in looking after premature and sick babies and is open 24 hours per day, 365 days a year.
Visiting Information
We completely understand that parents struggle when they are separated from their baby and because of this, we have 24 hour visiting for parents to ensure that they have unrestricted access to their baby. Siblings are NOT able to accompany parents when they visit.
Additional visitors are welcome during our visiting times of 2pm until 4pm and 6pm until 8pm – we respectfully request that visitors do not visit outside of these hours but, on the occasions where it is necessary for a visitor to visit outside of these hours, permission must be gained from the nurse in charge. Two visitors, in addition to the baby’s parents, may visit the baby, with additional visitors being required to wait in the SCBU waiting area – this is to minimise overcrowding and noise and also to enable nursing staff to quickly and easily reach a baby if a problem occurs.
Please discuss with the nurse in charge about other visitors in the current climate. The unit are encouraging Facetime calls which is an alternative option to those family members who may not be allowed to visit during this time.
Quiet time is between 12-2pm.
As with the rest of the maternity unit, SCBU has a very strict hygiene policy. We ask that all visitor’s, staff and parents:
- Wash their hands on entering and exiting the unit and use the hand gel provided at each cot;
- Remove outdoor coats prior to entering SCBU;
- Do not bring flowers onto SCBU;
- Please stay away from SCBU if unwell in any way and especially if suffering from a cough, cold, diarrhoea, vomiting, chicken pox, shingles, measles or any other infections illness.
We also request that mobile devices are used sparingly whilst on SCBU and that they are switched to ‘Airplane mode’ for the duration of your visit.
Encouraging parent participation
Parents are encouraged to participate in the planning and delivery of care to their baby – however, the extent of their involvement may depend upon factors such as their baby’s condition and their own levels of confidence. We encourage all parents to do as much as they feel able to do and we support parents to learn to care for their baby. For example, giving feeds via a feeding tube, changing nappies and giving mouth-care and eye-care. We also support and encourage mothers to express their breastmilk for their baby as this is of particular importance to small or sick babies.
As the SCBU is the first nursery for many babies, we also encourage parents to bring in items that will help to personalise their baby’s cot space or that they know are going to be ‘special’ items to their baby as they grow. Items such as teddy bears, blankets, comforters and family photographs are all lovely additions to a cot or incubator and help to make a baby’s cot look less clinical and more homely. When babies are able to be dressed, we also welcome clothing that may have been purchased especially for the new arrival – nursing staff will be happy to help and advice upon when it is possible to dress your baby and the type of clothing that is likely to be most appropriate.
If any parents wish to discuss any issues regarding their baby or their home circumstances they may either speak to the nurse/midwife caring for their baby or ask to speak to the neonatal unit manager. Parents have access to medical staff at all times, and an appointment can be made to speak with the consultant with overall responsibility for your baby’s care.
Two overnight stay rooms on SCBU for both parent's to stay in with their baby to help encourage close contact and you are close to discharge.
Working with other hospitals
We are part of a regional network that works together to ensure our babies receive the best possible treatment and care – this network comprises sixteen hospitals and it covers Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire. Babies who need longer term intensive care, or babies who are born less than 30 weeks at Hinchingbrooke, are transferred out to one of the larger hospitals within our region by a specialist neonatal transport service. More often than not, babies from Hinchingbrooke Hospital are transferred to The Rosie Hospital in Cambridge but, occasionally it is necessary for babies to be transferred to Norfolk and Norwich Hospital, Luton and Dunstable Hospital or Great Ormond Street Hospital.
When babies are well enough to go home, we offer an outreach service that provides telephone support and advice in addition to appointments in your home. Our outreach service also runs baby clinics in the antenatal clinic on Monday afternoons and all day on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.