World Prematurity Day 2024: Small actions, big impact!
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Every year on November 17th, World Prematurity Day brings global attention to the challenges faced by preterm infants and their families. The theme for 2024, "Small actions, BIG IMPACT: Immediate skin-to-skin care for every baby everywhere," emphasizes the profound benefits of early skin-to-skin contact, also known as kangaroo care, in improving outcomes for premature babies.
Understanding the importance of immediate skin-to-skin care
Skin-to-skin care involves placing a newborn directly on the parent's chest, promoting physical closeness and bonding. For preterm infants, this practice offers numerous benefits:
To enhance the bond between the new mother and the baby, nurses or doctors need to provide the right guidance. As well as, caring for preterm babies requires a high level of skill, precision, and compassion, as these fragile infants often face life-threatening complications. Medical professionals must be adept at managing respiratory distress, administering critical medications, and performing life-saving procedures in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). Effective training is crucial to prepare healthcare providers for these challenges. Simulation-based learning has become a cornerstone of neonatal education, offering a safe and controlled environment to practice interventions. By using realistic manikins that replicate the anatomy and physiology of preterm infants, healthcare teams can build confidence, refine techniques, and improve their ability to respond to emergencies with speed and accuracy. Therefore, it is essential to incorporate medical simulators and offer scenario-based training to healthcare professionals.
How Do 3B Scientific Neonatal Manikins help improve preterm infant care training?
Crafted by Lifecast Body Simulation, a 3B Scientific company, the latest neonatal range of manikins is revolutionizing training for both novice and experienced practitioners. These anatomically accurate tools replicate the unique challenges of preterm and micro-preemie infant care, offering healthcare providers an unparalleled opportunity to hone essential skills.
Key features of these manikins include:
Micro-Preemie Baby Manikin / Extremely Low Birth Weight Baby (ELBW)
This worlds-first micro-preemie manikin, developed in collaboration with Dr. Alok Sharma, Consultant Neonatologist at Southampton Hospital, UK, represents the smallest and most fragile infants born at just 22-23 weeks gestation. This realistic Micro-preemie manikin offers the following:
The Pre-Term Baby Manikin, representing a 28-29 weeks gestation infant weighing 980 grams, provides a realistic depiction of preterm babies. Created through the scanning and sculpting of real premature newborns, this manikin is ideal for training in:
Both the Micro-Preemie Baby Manikin and Pre-Term Baby Manikin offer a comprehensive set of advanced features to support realistic and effective training for neonatal care, including:
World Prematurity Day 2024 emphasizes the power of small actions, like skin-to-skin care, in saving lives. The advanced neonatal manikins from 3B Scientific enable practitioners to master these life-saving techniques through hands-on practice. By equipping healthcare teams with the tools and skills to care for preterm infants, we can collectively make a big impact on survival rates and quality of life for premature babies. This November 17th, join us in advocating for immediate skin-to-skin care and investing in the training resources needed to deliver exceptional neonatal care.
Click here to learn more about Neonatal Manikin range and discover how 3B Scientific is shaping the future of neonatal training.
Understanding the importance of immediate skin-to-skin care
Skin-to-skin care involves placing a newborn directly on the parent's chest, promoting physical closeness and bonding. For preterm infants, this practice offers numerous benefits:
- Thermal regulation: Preterm babies often struggle to maintain body temperature. Skin-to-skin contact helps stabilize their temperature more effectively than incubators.
- Enhanced breastfeeding: This contact encourages early initiation of breastfeeding, leading to better feeding outcomes and nutritional status.
- Improved respiratory and heart rates: Studies have shown that skin-to-skin care can stabilize breathing and heart rates in preterm infants.
- Neurodevelopmental benefits: Early physical contact supports brain development and reduces stress responses in newborns.
To enhance the bond between the new mother and the baby, nurses or doctors need to provide the right guidance. As well as, caring for preterm babies requires a high level of skill, precision, and compassion, as these fragile infants often face life-threatening complications. Medical professionals must be adept at managing respiratory distress, administering critical medications, and performing life-saving procedures in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). Effective training is crucial to prepare healthcare providers for these challenges. Simulation-based learning has become a cornerstone of neonatal education, offering a safe and controlled environment to practice interventions. By using realistic manikins that replicate the anatomy and physiology of preterm infants, healthcare teams can build confidence, refine techniques, and improve their ability to respond to emergencies with speed and accuracy. Therefore, it is essential to incorporate medical simulators and offer scenario-based training to healthcare professionals.
How Do 3B Scientific Neonatal Manikins help improve preterm infant care training?
Crafted by Lifecast Body Simulation, a 3B Scientific company, the latest neonatal range of manikins is revolutionizing training for both novice and experienced practitioners. These anatomically accurate tools replicate the unique challenges of preterm and micro-preemie infant care, offering healthcare providers an unparalleled opportunity to hone essential skills.
Key features of these manikins include:
- Realistic anatomy: An anatomically accurate outer body and internal airways facilitate lifelike practice.
- Intubation and tube insertion: Designed for training in endotracheal intubation and other airway management techniques.
- Lifelike ventilation exercises: A reactive chest simulates natural responses during ventilation.
- CPR capability: Practitioners can refine their resuscitation skills with realistic feedback.
- Umbilical drug administration: Training for umbilical cord catheterization ensures preparedness for real-life NICU scenarios.
Micro-Preemie Baby Manikin / Extremely Low Birth Weight Baby (ELBW)
This worlds-first micro-preemie manikin, developed in collaboration with Dr. Alok Sharma, Consultant Neonatologist at Southampton Hospital, UK, represents the smallest and most fragile infants born at just 22-23 weeks gestation. This realistic Micro-preemie manikin offers the following:
- Extremely Low Birth Weight: Accurately represents a 22-23 weeks gestation infant, weighing just 500 grams.
- NICU-Specific Training: Designed to train healthcare professionals in the delicate handling, ventilation, and care of the smallest and most fragile infants.
- Tension Pneumothorax Training: Includes the ability to perform needle decompression and chest drainage (dry, no fluid). With this groundbreaking innovation, practitioners can refine the skills needed to navigate the unique demands of the NICU, offering hope and care to the most vulnerable newborns.
The Pre-Term Baby Manikin, representing a 28-29 weeks gestation infant weighing 980 grams, provides a realistic depiction of preterm babies. Created through the scanning and sculpting of real premature newborns, this manikin is ideal for training in:
- Moderate Preterm Representation: Depicts a 28-29 weeks gestation infant, weighing 980 grams.
- Comprehensive Intervention Training: Provides lifelike scenarios for resuscitation, ventilation, and advanced neonatal care techniques for preemies of this size. By simulating real-world scenarios, the Pre-Term Baby Manikin prepares healthcare providers to deliver skilled care with confidence and compassion.
Both the Micro-Preemie Baby Manikin and Pre-Term Baby Manikin offer a comprehensive set of advanced features to support realistic and effective training for neonatal care, including:
- Anatomically Accurate Design: Realistic outer body and internal airways for lifelike practice.
-
Advanced Airway Management:
- Endotracheal (ET), Nasopharyngeal (NP), and Oropharyngeal (OP) tube insertion.
- Intubation training with realistic feedback.
-
Reactive Chest for Ventilation Practice:
- Simulates natural rise and fall of the chest during artificial ventilation.
- Suitable for high-frequency oscillatory ventilation.
- Provides realistic airway pressures and ventilatory volumes.
- CPR Training: Responsive chest for accurate compressions, designed to facilitate a 50/50 duty cycle.
- Drug Administration via Umbilical Cord: Allows up to 5mL of drug delivery.
- Skin Turgor: Enables dry training for intravenous therapy.
World Prematurity Day 2024 emphasizes the power of small actions, like skin-to-skin care, in saving lives. The advanced neonatal manikins from 3B Scientific enable practitioners to master these life-saving techniques through hands-on practice. By equipping healthcare teams with the tools and skills to care for preterm infants, we can collectively make a big impact on survival rates and quality of life for premature babies. This November 17th, join us in advocating for immediate skin-to-skin care and investing in the training resources needed to deliver exceptional neonatal care.
Click here to learn more about Neonatal Manikin range and discover how 3B Scientific is shaping the future of neonatal training.
