News / Isles parents to benefit from neonatal video scheme
SHETLAND parents are in line to benefit from a new scheme at Aberdeen Maternity Hospital’s neonatal unit which will see staff provide video updates of their newborn baby straight to their mobile device.
The initiative is designed to keep parents of babies who need extra care updated with the progress of their child at times when they are not able to be by their side.
The vCreate app will see nurses send video updates to parents which can be seen at any time of the day.
The videos will form part of a baby care diary which can be downloaded once their child has been discharged from hospital.
NHS Shetland’s senior charge midwife Elaine McCover said the free project will be available to “all Shetland parents with infants being cared for in the neonatal unit” in Aberdeen.
The unit plans to use hospital-owned iPads that were donated by a grandparent earlier this year after he learned that it was planning to introduce the vCreate service.
Nurses hope to capture special moments that parents might miss when they aren’t in the unit, such as the baby sucking his thumb or opening its eyes for the very first time.
Neonatal unit nurse manager Nicole Bauwens hopes that the scheme will reassure families of their child’s wellbeing and make them “feel closer to their baby even when they are not able to be at their baby’s cot side.”
McCover added that in addition to this NHS Shetland has worked with NHS Grampian to “provide a secure live video link for ward rounds and updates in cases where parents have not been able to travel with their baby” – a project which has now been rolled out more widely across the Highlands and Islands.
“This will allow parents to see their baby and talk to the staff looking after them allowing much greater participation in the development of management plans, in line with the aspirations of the best start maternity services review,” she said.
Become a member of Shetland News
Shetland News is asking its many readers to consider paying for membership to get additional features and services: -
- Remove non-local ads;
- Bookmark posts to read later;
- Exclusive curated weekly newsletter;
- Hide membership messages;
- Comments open for discussion.
If you appreciate what we do and feel strongly about impartial local journalism, then please become a member of Shetland News by either making a single payment, or setting up a monthly, quarterly or yearly subscription.
Already a member? Sign in to hide this message.
