A neonatal baby's feet being cradled by a parent.

The North West Perinatal Optimisation team has won the best national/regional project at a recently held award ceremony.

The North West (NW) Perinatal Optimisation team has won the best national/regional project at the recently held BAPM Gopi Menon Awards 2024.

In the North West – including Greater Manchester – there are 22 maternity units which also have a neonatal unit with a total of 469 cots. Around 7,000 babies are admitted every year, with 1,600 babies being born before their mother reaches 34 weeks pregnant.

The Award recognises the team’s outstanding contribution in perinatal care (the period just before, during and just after the birth), and how it has made a difference for babies and their families, whilst celebrating excellence.

The team is led by Catherine Nash, from the NW Neonatal Operational Delivery Network (ODN), Amanda Andrews, from Health Innovation NW Coast and Caroline Finch and Rebecca Williams from Health Innovation Manchester. The team also includes obstetricians, midwives, neonatologists, paediatricians, neonatal nurses, advanced healthcare practitioners, and data administrators, alongside ex-neonatal parents, neonatal charities, and maternity neonatal voices partnership leads (MNVPs).

Investing in education and training for parents and staff is a key priority for the team. They aim to embed the very best levels of perinatal care. They have worked together to deliver joint education, to develop resources and to standardise the approach to data improvement.

There are several interventions that should be carried out to ensure babies and their families receive the best possible start in life. This includes making sure babies are born at a maternity unit with the correct type of neonatal unit and ensuring there is a delay in clamping the cord, keeping baby warm and encouraging early breast milk.

Some of their achievements.

  • They have worked to improve the collection and recording of the interventions to help units focus on what needs to improve.
  • They have set up special interest group education meetings, with varied speakers, which are regularly attended by over 100 people, with over 1,000 hours of learning since April 2022.
  • They have set up North West face to face study days and local learning events.
  • They have supported the roll out Volume Targeted Ventilation – a type of pressure-controlled ventilation – that improves the care of neonatal babies.
  • They have worked with the charity Spoons to develop a parent information leaflet.

The outcomes speak for themselves.

  • In 2023, 88% of North West babies were born in the right place. This means they were delivered at a maternity unit with an attached neonatal intensive care unit.
  • During 2023/2024 there was a 33% increase in delayed cord clamping – which benefits babies as it allows time for extra blood to flow from the placenta to the baby.
  • During 2023/2024, almost 1,000 babies received colostrum within 24 hours – this is the first milk produced by the parent who has given birth and contains lots of important nutrients.

The teams will continue to collaborate to sustain and improve on these fantastic results for our babies and families across the North West.

If you want to know about neonatal care in the North West, including Greater Manchester, then more details can be found on the North West Neonatal Operational Delivery Network website.


Share this post