Every parent wants to bear a child with a healthy condition. Unfortunately, there are some special cases that require special treatment, too, even after they have just been born into this world. They might have problems breathing well at birth, putting them at risk of death. In this case of emergency, the healthcare workers have to use neonatal life support (NLS) to help them.
In the UK, there are 90,000 babies who need this intensive care every year, which means that around 1 in every seven babies. These cases usually happen for those infants who are born too early, have a low birth weight, or have medical support. Also, bearing twins or multiples has a higher chance of being born prematurely, which is going to need neonatal life support.
What is neonatal life support?
Neonatal life support is a procedure that helps babies who have difficulty breathing after birth. Usually, this is for newborn babies, the ones who are in their 28 days of life. The duration of a baby’s stay in this care varies greatly, depending on the severity of the condition and how long weeks of pregnancy have been completed.
The average length of stay in England and Wales is seven days, but the most premature and the sickest baby can stay for 28 to 31 weeks in this care. There are some cases where they may need only a few days of this treatment assistance. The main purposes of neonatal life support are:
Warm the baby: Dry and cover the baby to maintain body heat
Assess the baby: To check the heart rate and breathing
Open the airway: Use a mask, nasal prongs or laryngeal mask airway device and provide air to the lungs
Perform chest compressions: Press down on the breastbone to help them breathe
Course Preview
The CPD – Neonatal Life Support course can help the participants understand more about this procedure. As a result, they will have the knowledge and practical skills to do this support effectively. Also, to ensure the participants follow Resuscitation Council UK to ensure the safety of the babies. The learning objectives from this training are:
Understanding newborn’s physiology
Initial assessment and resuscitation
Learning airway management
Knowing advanced techniques
Treating special circumstances
By the end of the course, the learners will have the ability to perform neonatal life support with confidence and efficiency. It reduces the risks of putting the infants in worse conditions because of their health condition. Also, the participants will be trained to improve their teamwork and communication during this emergency situation.
Course Framework
From this course, the participants will have an understanding of newborns’ looks so they can make an initial assessment if the babies need treatment. Moreover, they will learn about airway management to help the neonates breathe, which includes advanced techniques if they need special treatment. The CPD – Neonatal Life Support will help you to learn about:
Newborns transition at birth
Spotting the problems
Resuscitation algorithm
Airway management techniques
Medication use in emergency
This course uses theoretical learning, hands-on skills training, simulation-based practice, and assessment. Altogether, the CCM works together with healthcare professionals to gain the necessary knowledge, skills, and confidence to perform neonatal life support. As a result, the participants will be able to perform this treatment effectively without endangering the babies’ lives.
Entry Requirements
The CPD – Neonatal Life Support course is for healthcare professionals who are involved in the care of newborns. It means this is suitable for midwives, paediatricians, obstetricians, paramedics, and other medical workers related to this job. However, if you are currently a medical or nursing student, you can join this training.
Common newborn problems
Newborns can experience life-threatening conditions at birth that require them to have neonatal life support. The problems can impair breathing, circulation, or overall conditions that affect babies’ health and development. Also, the risks can happen during the labour process, birth terms, maternal infection, and many more. Here are some examples of the most common problems that need NLS:
Birth Asphyxia
This condition happens because the baby is lacking oxygen before, during, or after birth. Usually, the symptoms are poor respiratory effort, such as gasping or not breathing. Other signs can be weak or even absent heart rate and bluish skin. When a newborn shows these signs, it needs to be put in neonatal life support with immediate airway management.
Respiratory Distress Syndrome
Quite similar to birth asphyxia, this condition is caused by a lack of surfactant in preterm babies (less than 34 weeks), which leads to collapsed lungs. Surfactant is a chemical compound that reduces the surface tension of a liquid. In doing so, it spreads out and gets wet more easily. When this problem happens, the newborn shows signs like grunting, nasal flaring, and retraction. In this case, the baby needs to increase their respiratory effort.
Meconium Aspiration Syndrome
Another condition that requires neonatal life support is meconium aspiration syndrome. It happens when the baby inhales meconium-stained amniotic fluid before or during birth. The symptoms of this condition are respiratory distress, grunting, and retraction. Also, the newborn will have poor oxygenation despite breathing efforts. In this case, they will need immediate oxygen support.
Persistent Pulmonary Hypertension
This issue happens when there is a failure of normal circulatory transition at birth, leading to continued high lung pressure. When the newborn catches this, they will suffer hypoxia even with the oxygen therapy. Also, it causes the skin to turn blue, causing respiratory distress and poor blood circulation. Neonatal life support is required to help the baby to breathe normally.
Neonatal Sepsis
If there is premature rupture of membranes, maternal infections, or prolonged labour, it can cause the baby to have a systemic infection. It leads to multi-organ dysfunction and circulatory collapse. You can spot it when the newborn has poor feeding and temperature instability. Also, this might cause pauses in breathing and low blood pressure for the baby.
Learn more about neonatal life support with the College of Contract Management
Every parent hopes to have a healthy baby. Unfortunately, they might find challenges that require the infant to have specialised medical care immediately after birth. Those newborns have to face conditions such as respiratory distress, poor circulation, or infections. It puts their life in danger, so they have to be put on neonatal life support. It will support babies who are born prematurely, with low birth weight, or other medical problems.
This procedure will help the newborns’ breathing and circulation. Also, it includes warming the baby, assessing their heart rate and breathing, providing airway management, and performing chest compression. With this, the College of Contract Managementcan help you gain an understanding of this field with the CPD – Neonatal Life Support course.
With the help of this training, you can give the babies in need the best chance of survival and recovery. It enables you to learn important skills like initial assessment, airway management, advanced techniques, and how to handle special circumstances. Hence, the neonates will receive timely and appropriate care. As a result, you will have the confidence and capability to perform neonatal life support in real-life scenarios.
Course Schedule
We are to inform you that the CPD – Neonatal Life Support course is still in development, and we are awaiting the lecturer’s schedule and the materials. In the meantime, we encourage you to look at other interesting courses that are available on this site. When there’s an update, it will be shared accordingly in the live session. For further information, you can contact the CCM team through email.
