GLANCE - Global Alliance for Newborn Care

About GLANCE

GLANCE is a global network, founded under the umbrella of the European Foundation for the Care of Newborn Infants (EFCNI) and officially registered since 2018.

GLANCE aims to represent the interests of babies born preterm, sick or with low birth-weight as well as their families. It thrives for improving newborn and maternal health worldwide, ensure nurturing care in all settings, and enable every girl, woman and parent to make well-informed choices and decisions during pre-conception, pregnancy and birth as well as during follow-up and continuing care after discharge from the hospital.

GLANCE website

Vision and mission

GLANCE has the vision that every infant born receives the best start in life. Worldwide.

GLANCE aims to create, empower and support a global patient voice in each region of the world while taking into account the respective cultural, historical and socio-economic backgrounds and needs of families.

By including parents from all parts of the world to exchange knowledge and experience, GLANCE aspires to decrease the burden of afflicted families and their babies born too soon, too small or too sick to help them thrive beyond survival.

The four key topics of GLANCE

  • Girls’ and women’s health
    GLANCE works towards the right for self-determination of every girl and every woman and towards recognizing the global importance and necessity of sexual education of adolescents.
  • Pregnancy and birth
    GLANCE supports the development and dissemination of knowledge for pregnant women and their partners about all relevant topics on a healthy pregnancy as well as high-quality care for all women of reproductive age.
  • Newborn treatment and care
    GLANCE promotes optimal care in all settings for every baby born too soon, too small, or too sick for the best start in life and a healthy future. This includes continuous training of nurses, parental involvement in care procedures and using locally applicable technologies.
  • Follow-up and continuing care
    GLANCE promotes the long-term health and quality of life of babies born too soon, too small, too sick. This also includes medical, emotional, psychosocial and financial support for these children and their families.

GLANCE Initiatives

Zero separation. Together for Better care! Keep preterm and sick babies close to their parents.

Kangaroo mother care is a neonatal care practice recommended by the WHO especially for babies born preterm or with low birth-weight and should be given for as many hours as possible

In cooperation with its international network, the Global Alliance for Newborn Care (GLANCE) developed a long-term campaign to support parents of hospitalised newborns and healthcare professionals in neonatal care units with the aim to enable infant and family-centred developmental care. The current campaign focuses on Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC), an essential topic recently highlighted by WHO. Kangaroo mother care is a neonatal care practice benefitting all newborns but especially the ones born preterm or with low birth-weight. The campaign provides a large variety of campaign material in various languages so everyone can join and support this cause.

Find more information here: https://www.glance-network.org/zero-separation-campaign/

Zero separation policies in the neonatal community

Campaign visual Covid-19 faq on preterm birth and zero separation policies

The impact of separation policies on parents, children but also healthcare professionals have been revealed during the pandemic and Infant- and family-centred developmental care became a prominent topic. To answer questions that were frequently asked about Covid-19 concerning maternal and newborn health, an FAQ section was developed for guidance. However, it should not substitute doctors’, midwives’ or nurses’ advice.

 

Find more information here: https://www.glance-network.org/covid-19/covid-19-faq/

Infant and family-centred developmental care in times of COVID-19 – A global survey of parents’ experiences

This global online-survey was conducted to explore parents’ experiences with regard to the disruptions and restrictions on different elements of IFCDC during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Parents of newborns in need of special/intensive care shared their experiences regarding prenatal care, parental access, infant nutrition and breastfeeding, health communication, and mental health.

Overall, 2103 parents from 56 countries participated in the survey. More than half of the participants were not allowed to have a support person present during the birth of their child. A further alarming finding was the strict separation of parents and their newborns; one in five parents indicated that no one was allowed to be present with the hospitalised newborn. Country-specific differences could be identified, showing that several elements of IFCDC seem to be more affected in some countries than in others.

Global findings were published in The Lancet’s EClinical Medicine: https://bit.ly/3iGFmo1

Full project report: download HERE

More information on the survey can be found here: www.glance-network.org/survey/

EFCNI and GLANCE: Joint statement on the situation in Ukraine

We and our network of parent- and patient representatives are horrified by the events taking place in Ukraine. To voice our solidarity with the people of Ukraine and everyone opposing this conflict, EFCNI and GLANCE have released a statement to urge political decision makers to put an end to this horrible conflict, to protect and support healthcare providers in Ukraine and to save the lives of pregnant women, new mothers and their newborns in need of medical care and treatment!

Download our statement

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