The Intensive Care Unit of the Neonatology Service of the Hospital Clínic de Barcelona has installed a camcorder system that allows parents can see their children 24 hours a day through a web.
There are five cameras placed on the incubators that allow you to observe the baby at any time. It is a pilot test launched since the beginning of the year, which ensures that it is giving very good results, since it favors the bond with the baby, reduces separation anxiety and even mothers produce more milk.
There is nothing like skin to skin contact
We all agree that the best for the premature baby is to be as long as possible in skin to skin contact. This technique known as Kangaroo Method provides great benefits for the baby, helping to regulate body temperature, heart rate, in addition to promoting breastfeeding and promoting the emotional bond, thereby contributing to accelerate recovery.
While hospitals are increasingly encouraging parents to stay with their babies during the hospital stay 24 hours or most of the day, there are babies who can spend several weeks or even months admitted and it is almost inevitable that in some Moments stay alone in the care of doctors and nurses.
In Babies and more Help save the lives of millions of premature babies: how does an incubator work?So those moments that parents cannot be there with their children, at least they can see them and calm down, they have devised this video surveillance system.
Reduce separation anxiety
It is very distressing for a father to have to separate from his baby who is admitted to the NICU.
“Families from the zero minute can see their child since, when the newborn enters the unit, we connect the incubator chamber. The anxiety and sadness caused by this separation decrease ”, explains Erika Sánchez, Assistance Coordinator of the Neonatal Service of BCNatal-Hospital Clínic.
The idea of installing them has been precisely a proposal of the parents who transmitted the fear of separation when they had to leave their babies. This made them value the installation of cameras that can be easily accessed with a password through mobile or computer.
Video surveillance cameras should not replace skin-to-skin contact, but they help reduce separation anxiety when parents cannot be with their baby.
In Babies and more The nine things about vaccination you should know if your baby is prematureMothers produce more milk
Mothers say that when they are not with their babies and they have to pump milk from home, connect to the cameras and be able to see their children favors milk production.
A system that everyone doesn't like
There are voices that oppose this system because they consider it an inhuman and cold deal, but clarify that it is not intended to replace contact with the parents as long as possible, which is the best for the baby, but that it is a complement to the care of the neonates who remain admitted. What do you think of the cameras in the NICU? Have you used them? Would you have liked it?
