Neonatal transitional care education programme for midwives

Minimising separation of mothers and babies underpins The best start – a five-year forward plan for maternity and neonatal care in Scotland. The availability of neonatal transitional care (NTC), which supports a resident carer, usually the mother, to care for a baby with requirements in excess of normal newborn care but not requiring neonatal admission is pivotal in achieving this aim. In October 2017, we set out a plan for how NTC could be provided to families across this health board. One of the needs identified was midwifery staff education. An NTC education group was convened to plan, deliver and evaluate a programme to ensure that midwives understood the benefits of caring for babies within NTC settings, were confident in delivering, and supported a family-centred approach to care, and were responsive to emerging family needs. The NTC concept was then promoted locally and 14 places on a pilot programme were offered to midwives interested in working in this setting. Participants indicated a marked increase in perceived ability, and we concluded that high-quality education is essential to ensure consistent delivery of high-quality NTC. This pilot has enabled NTC education for midwives to be developed, delivered, tested and amended for further implementation.