Award-winning programme reducing Cerebral Palsy rates in pre-term babies | Research news

Award-winning programme reducing Cerebral Palsy rates in pre-term babies

midwife team smiling

New mums are benefitting from an award winning national intervention at the Royal Derby Hospital which protects pre-term babies against Cerebral Palsy.

The PReCePT trial is nested within a national quality improvement programme which aims to increase the administration of magnesium sulphate to mums experiencing labour before the 30th week of their pregnancy.

Evidence shows that magnesium sulphate protects the baby’s brain from lower oxygen levels and so to reduce Cerebral Palsy rates in pre-term infants. The magnesium sulphate is given through an IV drip to mums who are likely to give birth within 24 hours and is safe to use for both mum and baby. Research has shown that magnesium sulphate is very effective at reducing the risk of infants born before 30 weeks of developing cerebral palsy by around 50%.

The PReCePT trial will assess the best method of implementation to improve and sustain magnesium sulphate administration in maternity units. It will compare two different Quality Improvement (QI) approaches: a standard model of implementation versus an enhanced model of implementation whereby units receive specialised coaching in quality improvement skills.

The original project, which was developed in Bristol and is now being scaled up across England, recently won a HSJ Patient Safety Award in June 2019, and the team on Labour Ward believe it is having a significant impact on their patients.

Michelle Jordan-Davies, Senior Clinical Midwife at the Royal Derby Hospital, said: “The Research and Development Department at the Royal Derby Hospital put the Labour Ward forward for the research trial, and the team are now one of 13 trusts in the country running the enhanced model of PReCePT.

“We implemented the trial in January with the aim of involving 85 per cent of eligible mums, but over the last three months, we’ve involved all of our patients who were eligible. That works out to around six new mums per month.”

Rachel Shilvock, Midwife at the Royal Derby Hospital, said: “Giving birth is a stressful experience at the best of times, let alone when baby is premature. Anything that we can do in this situation to help and provide a bit of calm is beneficial to everyone.”

The trial will run at the Royal Derby Hospital until 2020, at which point it is hoped that magnesium sulphate administration will become “part and parcel” of the care offered to pre-term babies.

 

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