Home - ESCNH - European Standards of Care for Newborn Health

Take a look at the individual European Standards of Care for Newborn Health, grouped according to topic. Many are available in different languages as well.

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Learn more about the European Standards of Care for Newborn Health, how they were developed, who was involved, and when it all began. Check out our FAQs as well.

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Download the individual standards, our brochures, and other material, also in different languages.

Implementation

Find out how we are working to implement the European Standards of Care for Newborn Health across Europe.

11 Months – 11 Topics

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News

Results of the public consultation phase 2023

2023-09-25

We are delighted to announce that the public consultation of 76 standards, which are currently under expert revision, was successful. In total, we received 318 questionnaires of more than 50 participants across Europe and beyond (21 countries in total). The standards with the greatest number of respondents were “Clinical consultation and supervision for healthcare professionals on supporting families” and “Very early and continuous skin-to-skin contact”, both part of the topic Infant- and family-centred developmental care, with 9 responses each. © EFCNI What’s next? The first authors of the standards (and their author team) will now receive the comments of the public consultation. Additionally, feedback from our independent reviewers as part of our simultaneous expert consultation will be added to the comments of the public consultation. After the authors have revised the standards, all comments of the public consultation will be published on this website for reasons of transparency. Please note that respondents could request that their contribution would not be published, when stating ample justification. In accordance with our privacy policy, names are displayed only if approved by the respondents. We want to express our deepest gratitude to all participants and to our partners and supporters for promoting as well as joining the public consultation. We are very grateful to draw on such a strong and active network.

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Rebuilding after the earthquake – The power of parental involvement in Turkey

2023-07-05

Guest article by İlknur Okay, President of El Bebek Gül Bebek, Turkey After the devastating earthquake took place in 11 cities in South Eastern Turkey on 6 February 2023, many buildings collapsed or were damaged, including the public hospitals. As the national Turkish parent organisation, El Bebek Gül Bebek, we did our best to support both NICUs and parents. As of now, life is slowly getting back to routine in those cities, but of course the damage is enormous, both physically and psychologically. With the collaboration of a leading bedding company, Yatas, we repaired and completely renovated two rooms in Kahramanmaras and Malatya on 8-9 June 2023. These are two cities which were affected the most by the earthquake. The rooms were severely damaged and thus out of service, although the main structure of the hospitals was checked and declared safe and intact. © İlknur Okay Both rooms will serve as mother-baby bonding rooms right before discharge from the NICU. The room in Kahramanmaras will serve for those whose babies are still in the NICU and who cannot travel from home to hospital, enabling these parents to stay together with their baby at the hospital. The hospital managements, doctors, parents, and everyone involved were so happy and emotional, so we all burst into tears of loss and happiness. Renovating and then opening these rooms was a special moment for us. Given the success of the project, we have agreed with our sponsor to repair and renovate another room in the city Adiyaman. This is the current situation in Adiyaman: © İlknur Okay © İlknur Okay We, as El Bebek Gül Bebek, deeply believe in zero separation and putting all our efforts into enabling mothers to be with their babies under even the most difficult situations.

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Second digital implementation workshop: Exchange of Italian and Portuguese partners

2023-09-21

This June, the second digital implementation workshop of the European Standards of Care for Newborn Health (ESCNH) took place with two of our best practice countries Italy and Portugal, which have made outstanding efforts to implement the ESCNH in their country. The aim of the workshop was to continue the success of the first implementation workshop by providing an international and interdisciplinary platform, creating a space to exchange progress and learn from each other to ultimately strengthen national implementation strategies in neonatal care. Both countries were represented by their national neonatology associations, NIDCAP representatives, nurse associations as well as national parent organisations. In total, 23 individuals including three representatives from EFCNI took part in the interdisciplinary workshop. Content of the workshop After a warm welcome by Silke Mader (EFCNI), country representatives were invited to provide an update regarding the implementation progress of the ESCNH. In representation of the Italian implementation Task Force of the ESCNH, Dr Gina Ancora, Natascia Simeone (SIN, NIDCAP Rimini), Dr Roberta Arena (SIN) and Natascia Bertoncelli (NIDCAP Modena) shared their past and upcoming implementation activities including the development of an implementation study in 12 pilot hospitals. The Portuguese progress was presented by Estela Coutinho and Paula Guerra (XXS), Lídia Videira (APEPEN) and Dr Gabriela Mimoso (SPN). A group discussion offered an opportunity to ask questions and reflect on challenges regarding the national implementation progress. Next, Dr María Maestro López, neonatologist and invited guest speaker, presented the best practice example from the University Hospital October 12 in Madrid. She introduced findings from a national survey and highlighted how the ESCNH are integrated in their hospital work and training courses. Last, Isabel Geiger, coordinator of the ESCNH, provided an update regarding the revision process of the ESCNH and shared details regarding the upcoming implementation activities. Thanks to all parties involved, and the lively discussions, the second implementation workshop was as a great success. We warmly thank all participants for their active participation and for their great efforts to implement the ESCNH in their countries – we are already looking forward to our follow-up meeting next year.

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