Oslo, December 2018

On the occasion of their 30th anniversary, our Norwegian partner parent organisation Prematurforeningen, chaired a seminar at Rikshospitalet, Oslo, as a national follow-up of the launch of the European Standards of Care for Newborn Health and the Call to Action in Brussels, one month earlier. In only a few months, the organisation managed to reach out to well-known national experts from different disciplines to evaluate care procedures in perinatal and neonatal health on national level and prepared talks referring to specific fields within Standards of Care for Newborn Health.

Besides Vilni Verner Holst Bloch, who hosted the seminar and Silke Mader, Chairwoman of EFCNI, who introduced the European Standards of Care for Newborn Health project to the audience highlighting the need for equal quality standards in care, 12 experts in neonatology contributed to the well-received seminar. They offered a broad overview of care procedures in Norway and gave insights into recent achievements, ongoing implementation and also pointed out, where improvements are still feasible. “Parents should be included in the care of their infant from day one and be recognised as important members of the team, caring for the child”, elaborated Dr Atle Moen in his talk on How NICU design can facilitate family centered care. “They are not visitors to their infant, expected to leave when caring measures or procedures are performed”. The experts also concluded that many clinical practices are referring to habits and not necessary to evidence based findings – a shift of mind and a willingness to allow changes is key if sustainable progress in neonatal care shall be realized.

The event was followed by a visit to the NICU ward of Drammen Hospital close to Oslo so the previously discussed topics could actually be observed on-site. Thanks to Dr Kristoffer Hochnowski and his team for guiding through the NICU ward and for providing insights and answers to the visiting group. A heartfelt thank you goes to project members Dr Atle Moen and Prof. Ola Didrik Saugstad for the committed support throughout the project development, as well as to Vilni Verner Holst Bloch and his entire team of Prematurforeningen. It is impressive and encouraging to see what this commited organisation has accomplished! We wish the very best for the next upcoming 30 years.

For the conference programme and presentations for  download click here. (www.prematurforeningen.no)

f.l.t.r.: Vilni Verner Holst Bloch, Chair Prematurforeningen; Bente Silnes Tandberg, Research fellow at Drammen hospital; Flore Kunz Le Marechal, Doctor at NICU Drammen hospital; Silke Mader, Chairwoman EFCNI; Birgitte L. Ekeberg, Head nurse at NICU Drammen hospital; Kristoffer Hochnowski , Head of NICU Drammen hospital; © Britt Inger Steen