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
Preterm birth to keep the infant warm on their way to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). In developed countries premature infants are usually cared for in an NICU. The physicians who specialize in the care of very sick or premature babies are known as neonatologists. In the NICU, premature babies are kept under radiant warmers or in incubators (also called isolettes), which are bassinets enclosed in plastic with climate control equipment designed to keep them warm and limit their exposure to germs. Modern neonatal intensive care involves sophisticated measurement of temperature, respiration, cardiac function, oxygenation, and brain activity. Treatments may include