Changes in the Chair Committee We are happy to announce that the European Standards of Care for Newborn Health (ESCNH) will be supported by our newest additions to the Chair Committee, Professor Willem de Boode from the Netherlands and Dr Florian Langhammer from Germany who will both act as Vice Chairs for the Topic Expert Group (TEG) Education and training of the multidisciplinary team working in neonatology, as well as Associate Professor Bente Silnes Tandberg from Norway who will act as Vice Chair for the TEG NICU design. Professor de Boode, Dr Langhammer and Associate Professor Tandberg are great assets to the Chair Committee and will enrich the conversation on how to improve neonatal care across Europe through their outstanding experience and expertise. A sincere thank you goes out to our former Chair Professor Charles C. Roehr and former Vice Chair Dr Morten Breindahl, both for the TEG Education and training of the multidisciplinary team working in neonatology, as well as former Chair Dr Boubou Hallberg for the TEG NICU design. Their dedication and hard work in the previous years shaped the ESCNH in lasting ways.   © Freepik   New First Authors Besides changes in the Chair Committee, we are excited to share that the ESCNH are welcoming 11 new First Authors, who play a crucial role in the current revision of the standards: Associate Professor Anna Axelin, from Finland, is the new first author of the standard Family access for the TEG Infant- and family-centred developmental care. Ms Anda Bowring, from the United Kingdom, is the new first author of the standard Temperature management in newborn infants for the TEG Care procedures. Ms Monique Flierman together with Dr Martine Jeukens-Visser, from the Netherlands, are the new first authors of the standard Post-discharge responsive parenting programmes for the TEG Follow-up and continuing care. Assistant Professor Robert Flint, from the Netherlands, is the new first author of the standard Prevention of medication errors in NICU patients for the TEG Patient safety and hygiene practice. Dr Bernd Kochanowski, from Germany, is the new first author of the standard Environmental hygiene in the NICU for the TEG Patient safety and hygiene practice. Ms Siri Lilliesköld, from Sweden, is the new first author of the standard Family support services for the TEG Infant- and family-centred developmental care. Dr Lukas Mileder, from Austria, is the new first author of the standard Patient safety and quality awareness in neonatal intensive care for the TEG Patient safety and hygiene practice. Dr Vincent Ollier, from France, is the new first author of the standard Neonatal transport for the TEG Birth and transfer. Dr Judith Rittenschober-Böhm, from Austria, is the new first author of the standard Hand hygiene for the TEG Patient safety and hygiene practice. Professor Marianne Thoresen, from the United Kingdom, is the new first author of the standard Postnatal management of newborn infants with hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy (HIE) for the TEG Medical care and clinical practice. Professor Brigitte Vollmer, from the United Kingdom, is the new first author of the standard Motor and neurological follow-up assessment for the TEG Follow-up and continuing care. Dr Lukas Wisgrill, from Austria, is the new first author of the standard Central venous catheter infection prevention for the TEG Patient safety and hygiene practice.   Our newest members in the author groups are renowned experts in their fields and will be instrumental in advancing the ESCNH and achieving high-quality reference standards of care in newborn health.   Thank you to our outgoing authors At the same time, sincere thanks go out to our former first authors who, with their outstanding skills and knowledge, significantly helped in advancing new approaches to neonatal care across Europe: Professor Mijna Hadders-Algra, former first author of the standard Motor and neurological follow-up assessment for the TEG Follow-up and continuing care. Dr Onno Helder, former first author of both standards Hand hygiene and Central venous catheter infection prevention for the TEG Patient safety and hygiene practice. Associate Professor Jan Janota, former first author of the standard Environmental hygiene in the NICU for the TEG Patient safety and hygiene practice. Dr Gilles Jourdain, former first author of the standard Neonatal transport for the TEG Birth and transfer. Ms Marianne Klepper-van Leeuwen, former first author of the standard Temperature management in newborn infants for the TEG Care procedures. Dr Karen Koldewijn, former first author of the standard Post-discharge responsive parenting programmes for the TEG Follow-up and continuing care. Professor Frank van Bel, former first author of the standard Postnatal management of newborn infants with hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy (HIE) for the TEG Medical care and clinical practice. Assistant Professor Heleen van der Sijs, former first author of the standard Prevention of medication errors in NICU patients for the TEG Patient safety and hygiene practice. Dr Cynthia van der Starre, former first author of the standard Patient safety and quality awareness in neonatal intensive care for the TEG Patient safety and hygiene practice. Dr Björn Westrup, former first author of both standards Family access and Family support services for the TEG Infant- and family-centred developmental care.   We would like to thank all authors who contribute their valuable time and expertise to the continuous revision of the ESCNH. Without them, high-quality and evidence-based reference standards in newborn health could not be achieved.

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.

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.