Research

The care of sick newborn babies is constantly changing. More information and new ways of helping to improve the chances of survival for those born very prematurely or with life threatening conditions are being discovered. Much of the care and treatment babies receive today is based on past research and therefore it is seen as vitally important for health and welfare of future babies that research continues.

Good research studies help improve medical and nursing practice and all research carried out in the NNU is strictly controlled. No study is allowed to happen without the plan of the research and the procedures involved being passed by an ethics committee. The ethics committee is a group of experts and lay people whose job it is to check that a study is likely to be safe on the basis of current knowledge. They also check that the study is likely to deliver useful results and check that the information that is given out about the study gives a truthful picture.

Parents may be approached to consider involvement of themselves or their baby in a study. Taking part in research is voluntary and parents may refuse or withdraw at any time without giving a reason.

Current studies are:

• Study of oxygen alarm limits in premature babies - wide vs narrow oxygen saturation limits in premature babies
• Non invasive measurement of shift and ventilation-perfusion matching in infants with broncho-pulmonary dysplasia.
• Neutropenia study
• Neutrophil function study
• Boost II UK study
• Gastric pH in sick and premature infants
• Non-invasive measurement of bilirubin levels following phototherapy