Transitional care unit is keeping families together

A new, midwifery-led unit at St Thomas' Hospital has been supporting newborns who need a little extra care to stay with their families and go home sooner.

The transitional care unit (TCU) was established in 2024 and provides care for newborn babies who don't require the intervention of a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) or special care baby unit (SCBU), but need treatments like intravenous antibiotics or jaundice management. Babies are supported to stay overnight on the unit with their parents. In the year since the unit was established, 107 babies have been cared for on the unit.

Additionally, close cooperation between the TCU and the neonatal outreach team enables newborns to receive phototherapy (a treatment for jaundice that uses a special type of light) and intravenous antibiotics, treatments which would usually require them to stay in hospital, at home. So far, 24 babies have been treated at home for intravenous antibiotics, and 76 for home phototherapy.

Through regular visits, the neonatal outreach team are also able to provide other advice, like feeding support, to alleviate new parents' worries.

When Dimitra and Apostolos were born they had high bilirubin levels and needed to be treated with phototherapy. Thanks to the neonatal outreach team, the babies were able have the specialised phototherapy treatment at home.

The team taught the twins' parents, Theodora and Mario, how to use the phototherapy equipment. They visited them frequently at home, until the twins didn't need phototherapy any more, and then continued to provide support to the family for about a month.

Theodora said: "The team was instrumental in helping us find our feet as new parents. We have no family in the UK so I don't know what we would have done without them.

They gave us so much reassurance and knowing we could talk to them and get a quick response was so valuable.

The fact we knew we had someone to rely on from the moment we went back home was a game changer for us, it made the whole process of starting parenthood so much easier. We are so grateful."

Alice Bradley, midwifery practice leader for the transitional care unit, said: "I am so proud of the important work our fantastic transitional care unit team has done in the past year. By creating an environment where babies can stay with their parents while having treatments, we help families bond and go home more quickly.

"I see the significant impact the unit has every day on babies, women and birthing people, and their families. We're looking ahead to the future and hoping to continue to enhance the care we're able to provide, including expanding the number of treatments we're able to support families to give their newborns at home."

Read Alice's blog to learn more about her role.