Question
Untitled item
S6W-23805 · Written Question · lodged by Baillie, Jackie
Lodged on
11 Dec 2023Heard / answered on
29 Dec 2023To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reported concerns that some mothers will be too unwell to travel to another NHS board with their premature babies, preventing them from being by their baby’s side in hospital to have a hands-on role as partners in care with the medical team, in light of Bliss reportedly describing this as “crucial”.
The answer
We recognise that all parents want to ensure their baby gets the safest care possible, and would expect that we organise care to ensure that this happens. The Best Start aims to keep mums and babies together as much as possible. If there is a high risk of the baby needing intensive care after birth then antenatal care will be planned with the input of a specialist maternity team, and with the expectation that the woman will be admitted to a maternity unit in a hospital with a NICU on site when it is time to give birth.
If a woman is in suspected extreme pre-term labour, she will be transferred by ambulance to a maternity unit in a hospital with a NICU on site, to deliver the baby there. If there is not sufficient time to transfer the woman before birth, the baby will be born in her nearest hospital and given immediate short-term intensive care on site to stabilise the baby, before being transferred to a NICU by the specialist neonatal transport service ScotSTAR when it is safe to do so.
The same level of care will also be provided to the mother who, once stable enough, will also be transferred to the maternity unit within the same hospital as her baby.
If a woman is in suspected extreme pre-term labour, she will be transferred by ambulance to a maternity unit in a hospital with a NICU on site, to deliver the baby there. If there is not sufficient time to transfer the woman before birth, the baby will be born in her nearest hospital and given immediate short-term intensive care on site to stabilise the baby, before being transferred to a NICU by the specialist neonatal transport service ScotSTAR when it is safe to do so.
The same level of care will also be provided to the mother who, once stable enough, will also be transferred to the maternity unit within the same hospital as her baby.
Answered by Jenni Minto on 29 Dec 2023.