Sock Footless

A guide to buying hospital safe premature baby clothes

Buying clothes for a newborn baby is one of the joys of being an expectant mother - but what if your baby is premature and is too small for the normal size baby clothes found in shops and online sites?
Several mothers of early born babies have realised the significance of the situation and have now designed and manufactured ranges of specialist premature baby clothes.
Hospital baby clothes for use in the NICU and SCBU departments have special requirements. They must be designed to allow easy access for the tubes, wires, sensors and probes that may be connected to the baby whilst being cared for in the specialist units. Even so they must still fit the baby well and be designed to not just be functional but to look good too! After all new parents always want the newest addition to their family to look cute and well cared for. By making the correct choice in hospital prem baby clothing the confidence of the concerned parents that the premature baby will be soon be at home the same as a normal healthy full term baby is raised. The extra confidence this affords to the parents; and possibly extending to the staff is such a great benefit for managing the stress and concerns of all involved that the benefits can't be lightly discounted. For the more calm and happier all the adults involved are then the better it is for everyone's health, including the babies.

Whilst searching for a supplier of suitable premature baby clothes there are several features that can assist the hospital staff in their medical care of the baby. As various pieces of equipment may be attached to the baby for monitoring purposes, or the bay may require an X-ray or scan carried out it is important that the baby can be dressed or undressed with as little disturbance as possible.

NICU baby clothes and SCBU baby clothes should be designed in such a way that Babygro's open out completely flat and have fastenings on each side. Thus allowing quick and easy access to staff and medical devices with the minimum disturbance to the baby. NICU/SCBU Babygro's should be of a ‘footless' design to enable the attachment and removal of monitoring devices to the foot of a baby. If required a premature baby bootie or sock can be used over a foot that does not have a monitor attached, alternatively a slightly larger bootie or sock can be used over the foot with the monitor sensors. This will allow staff to check and adjust any sensors attached to the baby's feet without having to disturb them as much as a normal Babygro design might cause.

If the baby is in the SCBU and has a condition that might lead to X-rays and scans to check on aspects of the baby's condition then the SCBU baby clothes can benefit from the use of plastic fasteners rather than the more tradition metal fasteners. The plastic fasteners can enable the baby to be X-rayed or scanned without the need to remove their clothing.

All premature baby clothes and especially NICU and SCBU baby clothes should be designed and made of the softest and least abrasive fabrics possible. The skin of such early born baby's is so delicate that it can be far more easily damaged than that of a full term baby. All fastenings should be adequately protected from being able to come in to contact directly with the skin; firstly to prevent possible damage being caused through abrasion and secondly in order to prevent any possible allergic metal reaction.

All NICU and SCBU premature baby clothes should be made of materials that do not allow any build up of electrostatic charge. Electrostatic discharge – commonly referred to as ESD can cause discomfort and other issues for the baby, as well as to staff. What feels like a ‘static' shock that makes an adult jump back could be far more severe to a poorly premature baby that has either a heart or breathing condition.

ESD can also damage medical probes and the monitors they are connected to, although they are designed to be protected from such occurrences the conditions in which the devices are used and maintained can cause the monitoring devices to give inaccurate and spurious readings especially if the ambient humidity of the environment is very low. Although hospitals may try to maintain a comfortable humidity level that is healthy and comfortable for the patients, if the humidity is too high the baby's will be very uncomfortable – although free of ESD concerns! If the humidity is too low and environment dry then the baby can then be affected by static build up.

All premature baby clothes should be designed to take in to account all of the above concerns as well as ‘looking good' and the baby looking ‘cute' it is paramount that the clothes they wear at such a crucial stage in their care and development is the best available for comfort, safety and practical for use in a hospital environment.

See our full range of hospital safe premature baby clothes in our online premature baby store, where you money buys you more. http://www.prem2pram.co.uk

About the Author

Sue Edmondson is the founder and former owner of Prem2Pram the online premature baby store http://www.prem2pram.co.uk as a mother herself of two premature babies she understands the difficulties parents face when their baby arrives early.

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