Wellcome
The project aims to develop a new therapeutic program for newborns with functional disorders and to pilot it at Inselspital Bern.
Factsheet
- Schools involved School of Health Professions
- Institute(s) Academic-Practice-Partnership Insel Gruppe/ BFH
- Strategic thematic field Thematic field "Caring Society"
- Funding organisation Others
- Duration (planned) 01.02.2024 - 30.06.2025
- Head of project Prof. Dr. Kai-Uwe Schmitt
- Keywords Physiotherapy+, Craniosacral Therapy+, Obstetrics+, Gynaecology+, Neonatology
Situation
Births with unplanned obstetric intervention are associated with a significantly higher level of physical and emotional stress for both the mother and the newborn. It also generates high amounts of unphysiological forces that can affect the newborn's cervical spine and skull. Such births are therefore associated with a high prevalence of stress symptoms (including severe agitation), drinking disorders and reduced mobility of the cervical spine (with or without secondary plagiocephaly). If left untreated, these functional impairments can persist for longer and have a negative impact on the child's development. In addition, the resulting intense episodes of crying can increase parental stress and disrupt the mother-child bond. However, these symptoms are not systematically recorded as they are not medical diagnoses and, consequently, not treated. In view of the possible consequential damage to the child's development and the distress for newborns and parents, this situation has been identified as a gap in care, in line with the scientific literature. This gap in care is to be addressed in this project.
Course of action
A new therapeutic program called "Wellcome" is to be developed and piloted for this purpose. The program is to be developed by physiotherapists from the University Clinic for Gynaecology at Inselspital Bern in collaboration with BFH. Once a draft has been written, it will be refined and optimised in an iterative process by an interprofessional team at the Department of Gynaecology. The program will then be implemented in a three-month pilot phase. During this phase, initial experience will be gathered, as well as data on feasibility, safety, interprofessional acceptance, patient satisfaction and therapeutic effectiveness. These experiences and data will then serve as a basis for the discussion on a definitive implementation.
Result
A total of 25 newborns were included in the programme, with the most common indication being breastfeeding difficulties (72%). Most cases (76%) were treated once. In the remaining 24% of the cases, two treatments were carried out. Acceptance was generally high, both among parents and staff from all disciplines. In interviews, almost all employees reported that they recognized the usefulness of the programme. It is “a valuable input that gives newborns a good start in life” and thus closes a gap in care. Wellcome was also perceived as important support by the parents. A roundtable discussion in the interdisciplinary team at the end of the pilot phase revealed above all that the inclusion and exclusion criteria need to be optimized. On the one hand, less stringent criteria were recommended in order to increase the low-threshold nature of the service. This could strengthen the positioning of Inselspital Bern as a provider of needs-oriented care. On the other hand, stricter criteria were called for in order to be more targeted and therefore more efficient.
Looking ahead
Wellcome is currently being offered whereas the next step is to optimize the programme. As soon as Wellcome has established itself in an optimized form, a larger effectiveness study should be carried out.
