Perinatal Optimisation
Optimisation
The East Midlands Neonatal Operational Delivery Network (EMNODN) are committed to supporting neonatal services within our region to deliver safe, high-quality care to babies and their families. One of the ways in which we can do this is through supporting the implementation of perinatal optimisation.
Perinatal Optimisation
Perinatal optimisation is a pathway of care for improving the health and outcomes of preterm babies born before 34 weeks gestation. The pathway is delivered through evidence-based interventions throughout the antenatal (before birth), intrapartum (during birth), and neonatal (after birth) periods. The ultimate goal of perinatal optimisation is to reduce mortality, brain injury, lung injury and other disease processes which preterm babies are vulnerable to.
Delivering the perinatal optimisation pathway requires a collaborative, quality improvement-focused approach by the entire perinatal team, including parents, to ensure optimal care is given from the risk assessment and prediction of preterm birth to the baby's delivery and early care. Only by working collaboratively will a service be able to deliver consistent, high-quality care to preterm babies.
There are 11 interventions within the perinatal optimisation pathway which obstetricians and neonatologists should consider for babies delivering before 34 weeks gestation. Not all interventions are required for all of these babies as they are dependent upon individual gestations.
Parents are key partners in the decision-making process about their care and the care of their baby. It is important to have honest, informative conversations at the earliest opportunity with regards to possible outcomes as well as the care available to them. Using the EMNODN Understanding Extreme Preterm Birth Information Leaflet may be appropriate during antenatal counselling but should always be given as part of a consultation.
What is PERIPrem?
PERIPrem (Perinatal Excellence to Reduce Injury in Premature Birth) is the project that was coproduced by Health Innovation West of England and Health Innovation South West, and the South West Neonatal Operational Delivery Network. PERIPrem brought together the perinatal optimisation pathway elements to produce a passport and learning resources for use within their region.
With permission, these have been adapted to produce a local PERIPrem Passport for use within the East Midlands. There is also an accompanying information leaflet to be given to parents at the time the passport is commenced, this helps to explain what and who the individual interventions are for.
Both the PERIPrem site and the British Association of Perinatal Medicine (BAPM) site have further information and resources available on perinatal optimisation.