Baby care unit set for improvement works

Buy photos » Work to improve baby care at Worcestershire Royal Hospital is set to get underway on Monday. (s)

BABIES born at Worcestershire Royal Hospital will soon receive even better care and support thanks to improvements plans for the Transitional Care Unit.

The unit helps babies who are born early who may have difficulties learning to feed. It also provides the extra care and support mums need until they feel happy and confident to take their babies home. The unit allows babies to be cared for whilst staying close to their mothers.

Planned improvements include increasing the bed capacity to a six-bed bay. The unit currently has five beds. The nurses’ station will also be central to the unit, allowing them to keep a closer eye on patients’ care.

Work will start on Monday (October 15) and should last for approximately ten weeks. All work is being carried out in daylight hours only and all noise will be kept to a minimum.

A patient on the unit said "My time on the Transitional Care Unit has helped me to learn how to care for my baby’s specific needs after being born too early at 32 weeks.

"The staff have been very supportive and are very friendly and experts in how to help mums like me to become more confident. I am sure the new spacious unit will make it an even better experience for mums and babies like us to receive this excellent care."

Patti Paine, head of midwifery at Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, added: "This is an exciting development for the Trust.

"We hope these improvements will allow us to provide a more open, caring environment for those mums and babies who may need a little bit of extra support."

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