New neonatal unit in Limerick maternity hospital to 'transform' premature baby care

A MILESTONE in the provision of critical care of premature and seriously ill newborns has been reached at University Maternity Hospital Limerick (UMHL) with the refurbishment of the hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).

Encompassing a two-storey extension and refurbished clinical space, the unit completely transforms the neonatal environment for critically ill and premature babies, their parents and neonatal staff at UMHL.

Completed in two phases over the past five years with no interruption to NICU care, the project, representing an HSE investment at a total project cost of €9.7m, has attracted international attention. 

Ms Silke Mader, founder and chair of the Global Foundation for the Care of Newborn Infants (GFCNI) from Germany, visited the unit on Thursday, June 5, soon after the new facility was operational. 

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Ms Silke Mader said: “It is a pleasure to see a truly family-centred and family-integrated approach to care in this newly rebuilt unit. What impresses me is the fully-breastfed discharge management co-ordination to ensure all the babies are going home breastfeeding.

“And I am impressed too by the warm atmosphere and the feeling parents have here of being the main caregivers and truly part of the team.”

Many non-clinical spaces in the original neonatal unit, including parents’ accommodation, a lactation centre, a clinical engineering unit, and support facilities for staff and admin teams, are now housed in the two-storey extension.

This has freed the space for a dramatic refurbishment and expansion of cot space in the intensive care, high dependency, and purpose-built isolation areas.

The new unit avoids crowding, enhances opportunities for skin-to-skin contact between preterm infants and parents, improves the breastfeeding rates of high-risk neonates, reduces the risk of infection outbreaks, and creates an in-built provision for surge capacity.

New mother-and-baby rooms for family-centred care and the unit-wide floral artwork offer calm and comfort amid critical care to parents and staff alike. 

The project’s clinical lead, consultant neonatologist Prof Roy K Philip, said the visit of Ms. Mader to UMHL is an indication of the standards set by the new unit, which he says surpasses UMHL’s aim to develop one of the best neonatal care facilities in the country.

Prof Philip said: “We are thrilled to see the benefits offered by this project to the families of critically ill and premature newborn infants of the Mid-West.

“We envisage that an evidence-based design and infrastructure, developed through our collective multidisciplinary effort and HSE’s support, will complement the quality of neonatal care for years to come.”   

Managed by HSE Capital & Estates and developed by DK Architects, John Halligan Architects and O’Brien Building and Civil Contractors, the project has been executed to an evidence-based “blended design” concept, informed by all disciplines at UMHL, and parental input via interactions with the Irish Neonatal Health Alliance (INHA) and the GFCNI.

This refurbishment project is among a number of initiatives being undertaken to improve services at UMHL pending the eventual relocation of the maternity hospital to the University Hospital Limerick (UHL) campus in Dooradoyle.