Special Care Baby Unit (Neonatal Unit)

On 30th October at our lunchtime meeting, Katherine Newman was invited along as a representative of Brighter Futures to talk about their fund raising to purchase two more incubators for the Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU) at Swindon's Great Western Hospital. These will replace the final two of ten 17 year old ones previously used at the old Princess Margaret Hospital in Old Town, Swindon. 

Through the generosity of individuals, clubs and companies, they previously had enough funds to purchase eight new incubators and now require a further £72,000 to replace the final two incubators.

These new state of the art incubators allow far more skin to skin contact between mother and baby due to the temperature being able to remain at a constant level when the sides are lowered and the top raised. 

The incubators monitor babies’ vital signs ie heart, oxygen level and breathing rate. Some babies become jaundiced and each have their own ultraviolet light to treat the baby.

The parent’s voice can be recorded and played to the baby to comfort them when Mum has left baby at the end of a long day caring for their child. These incubators record and control many more benefits. 

Katherine’s talk was extremely informative and stimulating. At the end, a cheque for £500 was presented to her for the Brighter Futures SCBU Appeal to go towards the purchase of the final two incubators.