Improving SCBU Care for Preterm Babies

Born Too Soon in a Resource-limited Setting on the Thailand-Myanmar Border: Can we Improve Care in a Special Care Baby Unit?

Since 2008, preterm neonates are taking care of in a Special Baby Care Unit (SCBU). Those born less than 34 weeks of gestation are followed-up monthly for one year for monitoring their hematocrit level, growth and development. Medical chart reviews are useful to evaluate the burden of diseases, characterize care treatment patterns and clinical outcomes by patients' subgroups; ultimately it can help identifying gaps in care pathways thus improving quality of care and ultimately reducing mortality. Medical records of all preterm neonates hospitalized in the SCBU including those followed up during their first year of life are computerized. The investigators propose to review the clinical charts of the preterm neonates in regards to four main points of care a) feeding, b) infections including early onset of neonatal sepsis, necrotizing enterocolitis and umbilical cord infection, c) body temperature control and d) respiratory distress. This medical charts review will be complemented by i) focus group discussions (FGD) with the medical staff working in the SCBU on the benefits and difficulties in using the existing guidelines for preterm care and by ii) interviews with mothers who delivered a preterm neonate on their experience in caring for their child and the challenges they faced. While performing the retrospective part of the project and after discussing the preliminary findings from the medical staff perception of the existing guidelines, the investigators will evaluate the feasibility to implement some additional recommendations to improve preterm birth outcomes based on recent literature and new protocols for resource-limited settings.

Improving SCBU Care for Preterm Babies

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