Bliss (charity) considering allowing due date, rather than birth date, to be used when making admissions decisions. Bliss works in partnership to promote and support best practice in neonatal care, and is currently involved in over £10.1 million of research which is responsible for significant improvements in the care and treatment of babies born premature or sick. Here are some of the research projects Bliss are involved with. Since 1995 Bliss has supported the EPICure study, the longest running study into prematurity in the world, which tracks the chances of survival and later health status of babies born at less than 26
Pain in babies of oral sugar. Sensorial Saturation has been included in several international guidelines for analgesia Other "old fashioned" techniques are being tested with some success. "Facilitated tucking", swaddling and "kangaroo care" have been shown to reduce the response of babies to painful or distressful circumstances, while a comprehensive technique of nursing, called "developmental care", has been developed for managing pre-term infants. A variety of "topical anaesthetic" creams have been developed, ranging from single agents with good skin penetration, to eutectic mixtures of agents and technologically modern formulations of lignocaine in microspheres. They are effective in suitable procedures, if correctly and timeously