A Feasibility Study of the SNUBY®, a Skin-to-skin Garment, in the Preterm Infant

Summary

Skin-to-skin care (placing the nappy-clad baby on the mother's bare chest and draping both in a blanket) is known to benefit both baby and mother. Benefits to the baby include warmth, reduced crying, and stabilisation of heart rate, breathing and blood sugar, and promotion of breastfeeding while simultaneously reduces mother's anxiety, improves bonding, and increases breastmilk production. Although these benefits are even more pronounced for preterm, studies show most preterm babies do not receive adequate skin-to-skin care due to fears such as dislodging intravenous lines, ventilation tubes, monitor wires and concerns about safety and privacy. Measures are therefore required to increase maternal confidence and awareness and facilitate skin-to-skin care for preterm infants.

SNUBY® (SNUggle baBY) is a purpose-built garment for facilitation of skin-to-skin care in preterm infants. It is made of comfortable, breathable bamboo fabric with an attractive appearance such that it can be worn as a normal garment.

In addition, it has distinctive features that allow the baby to be placed in a specially designed pouch, in direct contact with the mother's skin, with supports for lines and tubes that may be attached to the baby. Although many garments are commercially available for mothers to carry babies, no such specially designed garment has ever been tested scientifically and none are specifically designed for preterm babies. In this observational study, the investigators will initially test the feasibility of using the SNUBY® in preterm infants by inviting five mothers-preterm infant pairs, with mother's written informed consent, to use the garment under direct supervision. Following this, the investigators will analyse the safety and acceptability of using it on a larger scale to facilitate skin-to-skin care in preterm babies. The investigators will gather information on the staff and mothers' knowledge of skin-to-skin care and their experience of using SNUBY®.

Conditions

• Premature Birth
• Breast Feeding

Interventions

OTHER

SNUBY

Following written informed consent, mother will be issued with an appropriate sized SNUBY® for her use only. The infant will be placed in skin-to-skin in SNUBY®, infant chest to mother's chest whilst the mother is seated on a reclining chair, allowing the infant to be further stabilised by gravity. Monitor wires, IV lines and/or ventilation tube will be secured using the ties on the SNUBY®. The infant's temperature, pulse and SaO2 will be recorded prior to skin-to-skin, repeated as required for the infant's clinical condition or at 30min intervals for the duration of skin-to-skin. Maternal and infant behaviour will be recorded, including spontaneous breastfeeding. The time taken to put the infant into skin-to-skin care, time in skin-to-skin care and time to return to cot will be recorded.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Birmingham

  collaborator OTHER

• University of Nottingham

  collaborator OTHER

• University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Shalini Ojha · Royal Derby Hosptial

Study Design

Allocation

NA

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Model

SINGLE_GROUP

Eligibility

Min Age

0 Days

Max Age

4 Months

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2021-12-31

Primary Completion

2021-12-31

Completion

2021-12-31