A Glasgow hospital has launched a pilot service to treat newborns with jaundice in the comfort of their homes. The initiative by neonatal nurses and medical staff at the Royal Hospital for Children Glasgow (RHC) neonatal unit is expected to free up at least 30 maternal bed days per month at the adjacent Queen Elizabeth University Hospital maternity unit. Neonatal jaundice, which causes yellowing of the skin and the whites of the eyes, affects six in 10 newborns and requires a hospital stay of up to five days.
The new service enables babies to receive phototherapy treatment at home in their normal surroundings. (Image: NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde) Parents place their baby into a small sleeping-bag-like garment which delivers the phototherapy, and the treatment does not interfere with breastfeeding. Daily home visits are made by a member of the neonatal nursing care at-home team to monitor the baby's progress.
Community midwives from NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, too, monitor for jaundice during routine home visits. Scott Stevenson, whose daughter Ava received at-home treatment, said: “We were aware of Ava’s jaundice when she was in hospital, and she was receiving phototherapy there. “Her bilirubin levels improved, and we were able to go home.
The nurses advised that a midwife would visit the house, would check this again for us and that there was a chance we would need to return. “When the midwife arrived at the house next day, the blood test showed that Ava needed .