Therapeutic cuddles in the neonatal intensive care unit xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Therapeutic cuddles in the neonatal intensive care unit xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Feature
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Amanda Lawes talks about introducing Family Integrated Care within the Singleton Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and her work to provide positive touch and skin to skin care for babies most in need .
Amanda Lawes
N eonatal occupational therapy is currently a rapidly expanding area of practice for clinicians . This field of practice only began in the UK in late 1980s to early 1990s , when the UK ’ s first neonatal occupational therapist , Dr Inga Warren CBE , began her pioneering work in neonates at St Mary ’ s Hospital in London .
For many years afterwards , the field of neonates was a niche area of clinical practice , with small numbers of clinicians practising in the UK .
Neonatal occupational therapy has been much more established in the US , with a strong evidence base , and thanks to this , in addition to the clinical excellence of UK-based neonatal clinicians , the neonatal occupational therapy workforce has gradually increased .
As a result of the Neonatal Critical Care Transformation Review in England ( 2020 ), the Getting it Right First Time ( GIRFT 2022 ) report , investment from the NHS Long-Term Plan , and the final report of the Ockenden Review ( 2022 ), funding was made available to develop an expert neonatal allied health professionals ( AHP ) workforce .
This has led to a significant increase in neonatal occupational therapy roles in England . The devolved nations – Scotland , Northern Ireland and Wales – are working hard to catch up with England , but have a long way to go ; in Wales , there are currently only six funded neonatal occupational therapy posts .
I work as a neonatal occupational therapist ( 0.5 WTE ), based in the Singleton Neonatal Intensive
January 2025 OTnews 23